Occupant protection system and method including seatback

ABSTRACT

A seat for a vehicle may include a seatback including one or more inflatable bladders that may be configured to deploy in response to a triggering signal indicative of a change of velocity, collision, or predicted collision event. As at least a portion of the back of an occupant of the seat pushes against a front surface of the seatback due to the event, the one or more inflatable bladders compress at least partially the comfortable foam or comfort material in the seatback and expedite engagement of the energy absorbing material.

BACKGROUND

During a vehicle collision, injuries to an occupant of the vehicle mayresult from the occupant contacting a surface inside the vehicle duringthe collision. As the difference between the speed of the occupant andthe speed of the surface the occupant contacts increases, the force towhich the occupant is subjected also increases, thereby increasing thelikelihood or severity of injury to the occupant during the collision.Conventional seatbelts and airbags attempt to reduce the effects ofcollisions by preventing or reducing the likelihood of the occupantcontacting an interior surface and/or reducing the difference betweenthe speed of the occupant and the speed of any surface the occupantcontacts. However, conventional seatbelts and airbags may not providesufficient protection to an occupant during certain collisionconditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies/identify the figure in which the reference number firstappears. The same reference numbers in different figures indicatesimilar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of an example vehicle including an exampleoccupant protection system during a change in velocity consistent with acollision.

FIG. 2A-2G are schematic views an example seatback, and of an exampleoccupant protection system as described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example system architecture forimplementing the example techniques described herein.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing chest deceleration variation when implementingthe example techniques described herein.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example process for protecting anoccupant of a vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As mentioned above, during a vehicle collision, injuries to an occupantof the vehicle may result from the occupant contacting a surface insidethe vehicle during the collision. As a difference between the speed ofthe occupant and the speed of the surface the occupant contactsincreases, the force to which the occupant is subjected also increases,thereby increasing the likelihood or severity of injuries to theoccupant during the collision. Conventional seatbelts and airbagsattempt to reduce the effects of collisions by preventing or reducingthe likelihood of the occupant contacting an interior surface and/orreducing the difference between the speed of the occupant and the speedof any surface the occupant contacts. However, conventional seatbeltsand airbags may not provide sufficient protection to an occupant duringcertain collision conditions.

This application relates to an occupant protection system and relatedmethods including a seat having a seatback configured to assist withprotecting a rear-facing occupant during a collision or rapiddeceleration of a vehicle in which the occupant is traveling. As usedherein, rear-facing occupant refers to an occupant who is facing in theopposite direction of travel of the vehicle and/or in the event of acollision or predicted collision with an object behind the occupant. Inexamples, the seatback may be configured to provide an early energyabsorption and thus lower a peak magnitude of the reaction forcesexperienced by the occupant in the event of a rear-facing collision orsudden change of velocity of the vehicle. In examples, the seatback mayinclude an inflatable bladder or other expandable portion configured tomodify a stiffness of a front portion of the seatback and/or to fill aspace between the seatback and a back of the occupant in the event ofthe collision or sudden change in velocity of the vehicle. In this waythe seatback is configured to couple to the occupant's back sooner andto absorb energy from (e.g., decelerate) the occupant over a longer ridedown distance, thereby minimizing the magnitude of forces imparted tothe occupant.

Individual seats of a vehicle generally include a seat base and aseatback as described in more detail later. The seatback portionprovides a back support for an occupant riding in the vehicle. Inproviding such support, and to protect an occupant in the event of acollision or sudden change in velocity, the seatback may be configuredto absorb energy from the body of the occupant during an event. Forpurposes of this disclosures an event or collision event generallyrefers to an instance where a signal indicative of one or more of anactual change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocityof the vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision is generated. Forexample, when an occupant is seated facing a direction opposite thedirection of travel of the vehicle and a collision occurs with theleading end of the vehicle, for example, when the leading end of thevehicle collides with another vehicle or object, the back of theoccupant is thrown into the seatback of the seat in which the occupantis sitting. Similarly, in examples, when a vehicle is involved in acollision or predicted collision with an object behind the seat occupiedby the occupant independent of the direction of travel of the vehicle,for example in a rear end collision, the back of the occupant is throwninto the seatback of the seat in which the occupant is sitting. As thedifference between the speed of the occupant and the speed of theseatback increases, so does the force imparted to the occupant, therebyincreasing the likelihood or severity of injury to the occupant duringthe collision. This application describes examples in which a seatbackcan include one or more energy absorbing materials able to absorb theenergy force exerted by the body of the occupant against the seat duringthe collision. However, the longer it takes for the body of the occupantto engage the energy absorbing material, the shorter the distance thatis available to decelerate the occupant and, consequently, the greaterthe magnitude of a peak reaction force experienced by the occupant maybe. The longer it takes to engage the energy absorbing material, themore likely the occupant may be injured. As such, it is desirable tominimize the time it takes to engage the back of the occupant to theenergy absorbing material during an event.

However, energy absorbing materials, may not provide for a comfortablesurface during routine use of a seat. In order to effectively absorbenergy, energy absorbing materials are typically stiff and hard tocompress. To provide ride comfort, a seatback can include one or morelayers of comfort foam and/or other comfort material (e.g., fabric,mesh, batting, leather, vinyl, etc.) over the one or more energyabsorbing materials. As the name implies, comfort foam and/or othercomfort material is a relatively soft material that can be easilycompressed and thus provides for a more comfortable riding experience.Comfort foam and comfort materials may be made of compliant and/orelastomeric materials. In examples, one or more proximate or adjacent orconsecutive layers or sections of comfort foam or comfort material mayaccount for an aggregate total thickness ranging from 20 mm to 100 mm,in examples 20 mm to 25 mm. These ranges are only examples, and itshould be understood that other thicknesses (within, greater than, orless than those specified) may be used. In examples, for improvedcomfort, thicker or more layers of comfort foam or comfort material canbe used.

A drawback to using comfort foam or comfort material is that it maydistance an occupant from an energy absorbing material sufficient tomitigate injuries to a user. In the case of an event or collision event,the comfort foam or comfort material can provide little to no energyabsorption to mitigate injuries. As such, the seatback may not exhibitsubstantial energy absorption until the energy absorbing material isengaged. This may not occur until the comfort foam or comfort materialhas been at least partially compressed. Compression of the comfort foamor comfort material delays engagement of the energy absorbing material.This delay to engage the energy absorbing material due to thecompression of the comfort foam or comfort material can result in ashorter time and distance over which to decelerate the occupant, whichcan result in higher reaction forces experienced by the occupant. Thiscan lead to injury to the occupant.

In examples, an occupant safety system as described herein can beconfigured to deploy one or more inflatable bladders configured tostiffen at least a portion of the seatback by pre-compressing at least aportion of the comfort foam or comfort material overlaying the energyabsorbing material in the event of a collision or sudden change invelocity of the vehicle. By pre-compressing at least a portion of thecomfort foam or comfort material during or just prior to an event, thecomfort foam can act as an energy absorbing material sufficient toprotect an occupant and/or the energy absorbing material can be engagedearlier and thus commence energy absorption earlier. In doing so, thesystem may be able to reduce the peak magnitude of the reaction forces,such as force due to acceleration, and/or compression force, experiencedby an occupant. This can lower the risk of injury to an occupant. Inexamples, the occupant safety system as described herein may beimplemented in a seatback of any vehicle seat without having to increasevehicle stroke, seatback dimensions, or other vehicle physicaldimensions.

In some examples, the seatback may include one or more materials and/ora construction configured to rapidly compress the comfort foam orcomfort material in the seatback and/or subject the back of the occupantto a relatively reduced and/or constant reaction force as at leastportions of the back of the occupant compresses the seatback duringdeceleration of the occupant, for example. In some examples, therelatively reduced and/or constant reaction force may be provided bydeploying one or more inflatable bladders that compress at least aportion of the comfort foam or comfort material that may be provided ona portion of the seatback that faces the back of the occupant. In someexamples, different zones of the seatback may have different inflatablebladders that can be deployed simultaneously, concurrently, or atdifferent time intervals and can provide the same or differentstiffnesses tailored for different parts of the back of the occupant,such as the pelvic region, the lumbar region, the thoracic region,and/or the cervical region. In some examples, the occupant protectionsystem may actively increase pressure associated with the seatback tomore rapidly compress at least a comfort foam or comfort material in theseatback and thus accelerates engagement of the energy absorbentmaterial. Such configurations may be useful for enhancing protection ofan occupant during certain types of collisions involving the vehicleand/or during rapid deceleration of the vehicle.

In some instances, the vehicle may include a planning system, a safetysystem, or both that can determine change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision probability in view of one or more objects based on sensordata received by one or more sensors and generate a correspondingtrigger signal that is received by the occupant protection system. Thesensor data may include data associated with the vehicle and/or one ormore objects in the environment of the vehicle. For example, the sensordata may include information associated with physical characteristics, alocation, and/or a movement associated with the vehicle and theobject(s). Additional information associated with the object(s) may bedetermined based on the sensor data, such as a position, a velocity, anacceleration, a direction, a size, a shape, a type of the object, etc.Based on the sensor data, trajectories of the vehicle and/or the objectmay be determined for use in determining the collision probability.Generally, the probability may represent a likelihood, or risk, of thechange in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of thevehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision occurring. In mostcircumstances, the vehicle can maneuver to safely avoid the collision.However, in instances where avoidance is impossible and the probabilityof a change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocityof the vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision is greater than athreshold probability, the planning system and/or safety system maydetermine that a change in velocity of the vehicle or a collision ispredicted to occur. In some instances, whether the change in velocity orthe collision is predicted to occur may be based at least in part ondetermining that the change in velocity or collision is imminent (e.g.,within a certain amount of time). Based on this determination, theplanning system and/or safety system may communicate with othersystem(s) of the vehicle such as one or more occupant protection systemsto protect the occupant. In some instances, engagement of one or moreoccupant protection systems may be performed prior to a change invelocity or a collision (e.g., pre-collision), during a change invelocity, during a collision, and/or after a change in velocity orcollision (e.g., post-collision). In instances where the occupantprotection system is engaged prior to the change in velocity orcollision, the safety system and/or the planning system may communicatewith systems of the vehicle in advance and with enough time to permitengagement of the seat actuator or other safety device.

This disclosure is generally directed to apparatuses, systems, andmethods for reducing the likelihood and/or severity of injury to anoccupant during an event or collision event. In at least some examples,techniques provided herein, may mitigate injuries/damages in which animpact occurs to the leading end of the vehicle while the occupant isseated facing the trailing end of the vehicle (e.g., opposite thedirection of travel) and/or in the event of a collision or predictedcollision facing in the direction opposite to the direction from whichvehicle collides or is predicted to collide with an object, such as whenthe collision with an object is behind the seatback of the seat wherethe occupant is seated, though any other direction of travel andoccupant position is contemplated.

The occupant safety system as described can be implemented in anyvehicle seat. In examples, the occupant safety system can be the onlysafety system provided in a seat of a vehicle. In examples, the occupantsafety system as described herein may be employed with one or more othersafety systems. In examples, the occupant safety system as described canbe implemented in a seat who can also include one or more of an activeheadrest, such as disclosed for example in co-pending U.S. applicationSer. No. 17/122,271, filed on Dec. 15, 2020, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. In examples, theoccupant safety system as described may be employed together with aprotection system as described for example in co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 16/370,637, filed Mar. 29, 2019, and/or U.S.application Ser. No. 16/664,069, filed Oct. 25, 2019, both of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

In some instances, prior to the change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision occurring and/or upon first entering the vehicle, one or morevehicle system(s) may determine a safe position of the occupant. Forexample, upon entering the vehicle, the occupant may be instructed tosit in the seat in an upright or seated position. In some instances, adisplay within the vehicle may illustrate or present content associatedwith a proper seating position or a proper position of the occupant.Camera(s), weight sensors, distance sensors, or other sensors within thevehicle, for example, may determine whether the occupant is positionedcorrectly relative to the seatback, vice versa.

In some instances, the event probability, i.e. the probability of achange in velocity or collision, may be determined based on a predictedintersection between the vehicle and the object. The predictedintersection may be associated with a predicted location of the vehicleand the predicted location of the object at a future instance in time.As discussed in detail herein, the vehicle may include one or moresystem(s) that determines the event probability based on sensor datareceived by sensor(s) of the vehicle, sensor(s) from other vehicles,sensor(s) associated with the vehicle, and so forth. The sensor data mayinclude data associated with the vehicle and the object, such asinformation associated with physical characteristics, a location, and/ora movement associated with the vehicle and the object. Based on thesensor data, as well as the vehicle trajectory and/or the objecttrajectory, the vehicle systems may determine the event probability. Theevent probability may represent a likelihood, or risk, of an event orcollision event between the vehicle and the object. Additionally, insome instances, one or more system(s) may determine whether a change invelocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle,a collision, or a predicted collision is imminent. Whether the change invelocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle,a collision, or a predicted collision is imminent may be based onpredicting that the change in velocity of the vehicle, a predictedchange in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collisionoccurs within a certain amount of time (e.g., one second, two seconds,etc.).

In examples, a seat may be configured to be coupled to a vehicle. Theseat may include a seat base configured to support at least a portion ofweight of an occupant of the seat. The seat may include a seatbackassociated with the seat base and configured to provide support to aback of the occupant. A seat actuator may be configured to modify astiffness of a portion of the seatback. An actuator controller may be incommunication with the seat actuator and may be configured to receive atriggering signal indicative of one or more of a change in velocity ofthe vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision,or a predicted collision, and cause, based at least in part on thetriggering signal, the seat actuator to modify the stiffness of theportion of the seatback. In examples, the triggering signal may begenerated by a planner system of the vehicle used to control navigationof the vehicle through an environment and/or by a separate safety systemof the vehicle. In examples, the triggering signal may also be generatedby other vehicle system(s), such as the perception system, and thesensor system(s) and/or the occupant protection system itself.

In examples, the triggering signal may be responsive to a collision or apredicted collision with an object located behind the seatback. Theactuator may, in some examples, also be configured to receive a seatingposition of an occupant, and/or a direction of travel of the vehicle, inwhich case causing the seat actuator to expand an expandable portion ofthe seatback may be further based at least in part on one or more of theseating position or the direction of travel.

The portion of the seatback may include a first portion facing the backof the occupant. The first portion may include a first material. Theseatback may include a second portion opposite the first portion, thesecond portion including a second material. The seat actuator may beconfigured to include an expandable portion located between the firstportion and the second portion. The first material may include anelastomeric foam and the second material may include a materialconfigured to crush in plastic deformation under a threshold load.

To modify the stiffness of the front portion of the seatback, the seatactuator may be configured to expand an expandable portion located inthe seatback. In examples, the seat actuator may include an expandableportion including an inflatable bladder, and an expansion device, suchas a compressor, pump, inflator, pressure reservoir, pneumatic cylinder,gas generator, pyrotechnic charge, propellants, any combination thereof,or any like device, in flow communication with the inflatable bladderand configured to cause the inflatable bladder to expand from a stowedstate to a deployed state. The portion of the seatback may include afirst portion facing the back of the occupant, and the expandableportion of the seat actuator may be configured to include two or moreinflatable bladders configured to expand between a the first portion anda second portion of the seatback opposite the first portion. Inexamples, two or more inflatable bladders may be independently operated.In examples, a first one of the two or more inflatable bladders is at afirst location of the seatback and a second one of the two or moreinflatable bladders is at a second location, different from the firstlocation, of the seatback. In examples, an inflatable bladder may beconfigured to include two or more chambers.

In examples, an occupant protection system for a vehicle is provided.The occupant protection system may be configured to include a seatconfigured to be coupled to a vehicle. The seat may be configured toinclude seat base configured to support at least a portion of weight ofan occupant of the seat, and a seatback associated with the seat baseand configured to provide support to a back of the occupant. A seatactuator may be configured to modify a stiffness of a portion of theseatback. An actuator controller may be in communication with the seatactuator and may be configured to receive a triggering signal indicativeof one or more of a change in velocity of the vehicle, a predictedchange in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision, and cause, based at least in part on the triggering signal,the seat actuator to modify the stiffness of the portion of theseatback.

To modify the stiffness of the portion of the seatback, the seatactuator may be configured to expand at least an expandable portionlocated in the seatback. In examples, the seat actuator may beconfigured to include an expandable portion comprising an inflatablebladder, and an expansion device in flow communication with theinflatable bladder and configured to cause to the inflatable bladder toexpand from a stowed state to a deployed state.

The portion of the seatback may be configured to include a first portionfacing the back of the occupant, and the first portion may include anelastomeric material. The seatback may also include a second portion,opposite the first portion, the second portion configured to crush inplastic deformation under a threshold load. The seat actuator may beconfigured to include an expandable portion located between the firstportion and the second portion configured to compress the elastomericmaterial upon expanding.

In examples, a method for protecting an occupant of a vehicle isprovided. The method may include receiving a triggering signalindicative of at least one of a change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision, and causing, based at least in part on the triggering signal,a seat actuator to change a stiffness a portion of a seatback that facesat least a portion of a back of an occupant from a first stiffness to asecond stiffness greater than the first stiffness.

Causing the seat actuator to change the stiffness of the portion of theseatback may include increasing a pressure in a portion of the seatactuator that includes an inflatable bladder, wherein the inflatablebladder may be located in an internal portion of the seatback.Increasing the pressure in the portion of the seat actuator thatincludes the inflatable bladder may include activating an expansiondevice operably connected to the inflatable bladder to deploy theinflatable bladder. Increasing the pressure in the portion of the seatactuator that comprises the inflatable bladder may include injectinginto the inflatable bladder a fluid including a liquid, a gas, or acombination thereof.

Causing the seat actuator to change the stiffness of the portion of theseatback may include pressurizing a portion of the seat actuator thatincludes a first inflatable bladder located at a first location insidethe seatback, pressurizing a portion of the seat actuator that includesa second inflatable bladder located at a second location, different fromthe first location, inside the seatback, or pressurizing the firstinflatable bladder and the second inflatable bladder.

In examples, the method may also include determining cessation of thetriggering signal and causing the portion of the seat actuator to returnthe portion of the seatback to the first stiffness.

In examples, based at least in part of the triggering signal, the systemcan be configured to pressurize a portion of the seat actuator thatcomprises a first inflatable bladder located at a first location in aninternal portion of the seatback, or pressurize a portion of the seatactuator that comprises a second inflatable bladder located at a secondlocation, different from the first location, in the internal portion ofthe seatback, or pressurize the first inflatable bladder and the secondinflatable bladder.

In examples, a first compression mechanism can be a pyrotechnic or other“non-reversible” compression techniques and a second compressionmechanism that can include a pump or other “reversible” compressiontechnique. A reversible compression technique may be able to compressfoam a multitude of times without replacing a component of the system. Anon-reversible compression technique may require a one-time usecomponent (e.g., a canister, an accelerant, etc.) that may requirereplacement or recharged to be used again. A reversible technique may beemployed in anticipation of an adverse event (e.g., a collision) usingtechniques disclosed herein regarding vehicle sensors and/or autonomousfunctionality. A non-reversible technique may be employed in response toan accelerometer or other sensor indicating that an adverse event is orhas occurred.

In certain examples, comfort foam may be contained within an enclosureto constrain the comfort foam inducing compression of the foam ratherthan displacement. The enclosure may include a filter or other mechanismto enable air to leave the enclosure with constraining foam material. Inresponse to a compression actuator being enabled, comfort foam can becompressed within an enclosure to act as energy absorbing foamsufficient to mitigate damage to a user during an adverse event.

The techniques and systems described herein may be implemented in anumber of ways. Example implementations are provided below withreference to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a side cutaway view showing an interior 100 of an examplevehicle 102 including a pair of occupants 104 (e.g., occupants 104A and104B). In examples, vehicle 102 can experience a predicted or actualchange in velocity and/or a predicted collision or an actual collisioninvolving the vehicle 102. The example vehicle 102 may be configured totravel via a road network from one geographic location to a destinationcarrying one or more of the occupants 104. For example, the interior 100may include a plurality of seats 106 (e.g., seats 106A and 106B), whichmay be provided in any relative arrangement. The example vehicle 102shown in FIG. 1 includes an example carriage-style seating arrangementin a substantially central portion of the interior 100 of vehicle 102.For example, the vehicle 102 may include two or more rows 108 (e.g.,rows 108A and 108B) of seats 106, and in some examples, two of the rows108 of seats 106 may face each other, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 .One or more of the rows 108 of seats 106 may include two seats 106. Insome examples, one or more of the two seats 106 may be a bench-styleseat configured to provide seating for one or more occupants 104. Otherrelative arrangements and numbers of seats 106 are contemplated.

For the purpose of illustration, the vehicle 102 may be a driverlessvehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle configured to operate accordingto a Level 5 classification issued by the U.S. National Highway TrafficSafety Administration, which describes a vehicle capable of performingall safety-critical functions for the entire trip, with the driver (oroccupant) not being expected to control the vehicle at any time. In suchexamples, because the vehicle 102 may be configured to control allfunctions from start to completion of the trip, including all parkingfunctions, it may not include a driver and/or controls for driving thevehicle 102, such as a steering wheel, an acceleration pedal, and/or abrake pedal. This is merely an example, and the systems and methodsdescribed herein may be incorporated into any ground-borne, airborne, orwaterborne vehicle, including those ranging from vehicles that need tobe manually controlled by a driver at all times, to those that arepartially- or fully-autonomously controlled.

The example vehicle 102 may be any configuration of vehicle, such as,for example, a van, a sport utility vehicle, a cross-over vehicle, atruck, a bus, an agricultural vehicle, and a construction vehicle. Thevehicle 102 may be powered by one or more internal combustion engines,one or more electric motors, hydrogen power, any combination thereof,and/or any other suitable power sources. Although the example vehicle102 has four wheels 110, the systems and methods described herein may beincorporated into vehicles having fewer or a greater number of wheels,tires, and/or tracks. The example vehicle 102 may have four-wheelsteering and may be multi-directional, configured to operate generallywith equal performance characteristics in all directions. For example,the vehicle may be bidirectional such that a first end 112 of thevehicle 102 is the leading end of the vehicle 102 when travelling in afirst direction 114, and such that the first end 112 becomes thetrailing end of the vehicle 102 when traveling in the opposite, seconddirection 116, as shown in FIG. 1 . Similarly, a second end 118 of thevehicle 102 is the leading end of the vehicle 102 when travelling in thesecond direction 116, and such that the second end 118 becomes thetrailing end of the vehicle 102 when traveling in the opposite, firstdirection 114. These example characteristics may facilitate greatermaneuverability, for example, in small spaces or crowded environments,such as parking lots and urban areas.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the vehicle 102 may include an occupant protectionsystem 120 configured to protect one or more of the occupants 104 duringa collision involving the vehicle 102. In some examples, the occupantprotection system 120 may include, or be incorporated into, one or moreportions of one or more of the seats 106 (e.g., a seat base, a seatback,and/or a headrest). For example, as shown in FIG. 1 , each of theexample seats 106 includes a seat base 122 configured to support atleast a portion of a weight of an occupant 104, a seatback 124associated with the seat base 122 (e.g., coupled to and/or adjacent tothe seat base 122) and configured to provide support to a back 126 of anoccupant 104 of the seat 120, and a headrest 128 associated with theseatback 124 (e.g., coupled to and/or adjacent to the seatback 124) andconfigured to provide support to a head and/or neck 130 of an occupant104 of the seat 120. When seated, a portion of the back 126 of theoccupant 104 may be spaced from a first or front surface 132 of theseatback 124 by a space 134. As used herein, front surface 132 refers toa first outer surface of seatback 124 that faces back 126 of occupant104 when the occupant 104 is seated in seat 106. The seatback 124 of oneor more of the seats 106 may include a second or rear surface 136, whichmay be formed as part of the seatback 124 and/or, in some examples, maybe coupled to, adjacent to, and/or at least partially formed by, aportion of the interior 100 of the vehicle 102. As used herein, rearsurface 136 refers to a second outer surface of seatback 124 that facesin a direction opposite from the direction in which front surface 132faces. Front surface 132 and rear surface 136 of seatback 124 as usedherein refers to the outer surfaces of seatback 124 independent of thedirection of travel of vehicle 102. In some examples, the occupantprotection system 120 may be provided at each seat 106, at each row 108of seats 106, and/or only at individual seats 106 or rows 108 of seats106.

In examples, to provide a more comfortable ride to the occupant it maybe desirable to construct the seatback 124 that is of a desiredstiffness when leaned against. In examples, seatback 124 may beconfigured to include at least in part of an energy absorbing material.For purposes of this disclosure, an energy absorbing material is amaterial configured to crush in plastic deformation under a thresholdload or like material that requires in the range of about 20 kPa toabout 500 kPa of pressure before undergoing deformation. In examples, anenergy absorbing material is one that deforms under about 280 kPa and350 kPa. Non limiting examples of energy absorbing material includepolymeric foam (e.g., Impaxx 300, expanded polypropylene (EPP) foamdensity 30 grams per liter or 45 grams per liter, urethane foam,polystyrene foam, etc.), plastic, aluminum, cellulose based material, ora combination of these and/or other materials, for example. In examples,the energy absorbing material may be a substantially rigid foamconfigured to crush in plastic deformation under a threshold load. Inexamples, a portion or all of the energy absorbing material may beformed of a closed cell, thermoplastic foam having a density of at most40 grams per liter, and a compression strength of at least about 300kilopascals at 60 degrees Celsius and at most about 500 kilopascals at−15 degrees Celsius. However, these are merely examples and othersimilar or different materials may also be used. In examples, seatback124 may be configured to include at least in part one or more comfortfoam and/or comfort material. For purposes of this disclosure, a comfortfoam and comfort materials refer to an elastomeric foam or likematerials that require less than 20 kPa of pressure to undergodeformation. In examples, a comfort foam or comfort material is amaterial that deforms when applying a pressure ranging from 5 kPa to 17kPa. In examples, a comfort foam or comfort material is a material thatdeforms when applying a pressure of 8 kPa. Examples of comfort foamand/or comfort material can include a polyurethane. Other similarmaterials may also be used.

In examples, the seatback 124 can include one or more layers orsections. The one or more layers or sections can be made of the same ordifferent material. The one or more layers or sections can be configuredto have the same or different thickness. The one or more layers orsections can be configured such that stiffness of the seatback 124varies across the width of the seatback 124. In examples, a variation instiffness across the width of seatback 124 can be achieved usingdifferent materials for different layers or sections. In examples, thevariation in stiffness across the width of seatback 124 can be achievedby varying the thickness of one or more layers or sections. In examples,the variation in stiffness across the width of seatback 124 can beachieved by a combination of material selection and varying thicknessfor each layer or section. In examples, the stiffness of one or morelayers or sections can be configured to include one or more supportstructures such as a frame, air pockets or any combination thereof.

In examples, the seatback 124 can include one or more portions. Eachportion can be configured as one or more layers and/or sections.Reference to different portions of a seatback 124 is made only fordescription purposes. The portions are integral parts of seatback 124.The materials in the one or more portions can be arranged so thatstiffness of the seatback 124 varies across the width of the seatback124. The one or more portions of seatback 124 can include the same ordifferent materials. In examples, seatback 124 can include at least afirst portion and second portion. The stiffness of the first portion canbe the same or different from the stiffness of the second portion. Thestiffness of each portion may be uniform. The stiffness of each portionmay vary across its own thickness. For example, a portion of seatback124 can be configured to have two or more layers or sections exhibitingdifferent stiffness. Each portion can be configured to have the samethickness as or different thickness from any other portion. In examples,the one or more layers or sections can be configured to includematerials arranged so that the stiffness of the seatback 124 is greaterat a rear portion than at a front portion. For example, a rear portionof seatback 124 may include one or more energy absorbing materials,while a front portion may include one or more comfort foams or comfortmaterials. The front portion of seatback 124 as referred to herein isintended as the portion of seatback 124 that is closest to the back 126of an occupant when an occupant is seated on seat 106. In examples, afront portion of seatback 124 can include first or front surface 132. Arear portion of seatback 124 can be a portion of seatback 124 other thanthe front portion. In examples, the rear portion can include a second orrear surface 136 of seatback 124.

For purposes of this disclosure, the term stiffness is used to refer toa measure of resistance to deformation in response to an applied force.There may be a distinction between the stiffness of a material and thestiffness of a layer, section, structure, or portion. When referencing amaterial stiffness, the disclosure herein refers to a material property.A material stiffness depends on the material composition. Whenreferencing the stiffness of the seatback or of a layer, section, orportion of an object such as the seatback, additional factors may beinvolved that may affect the overall stiffness of what is beingdiscussed. The additional factors may include, without limitation, oneor more of thickness of any one or more of layers, sections, portions,or objects, the combination of different layers, sections, portions, orobjects, or the presence of additional device, such as for example, aninflated bladder as discussed in more detail herein. As such, thestiffness of a layer, section, portion, or object may be the same ordifferent from the stiffness of just the material included in thatlayer, section, portion, or object. In examples described herein, thestiffness of a layer, section, portion, or object can be increased bycompressing a layer of material.

In examples, as illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2E, seatback 124 can have afirst portion as front portion 144. Front portion 144 can include thefirst or front surface 132 configured to face the back 126 of anoccupant. Front portion 144 may be configured as one or more layersand/or sections 146. In examples, the one or more layers or sections 146can include a comfort foam and/or comfort material. In the illustratedexample, front portion 144 is configured to have a single layer orsection of a first material. The first material can be a comfort foamand/or comfort material. The first material can have a first materialstiffness. In examples, front portion 144 is configured to have two ormore layers and/or sections of the same or different comfort foam and/orcomfort material. In examples, the layers or sections that make up frontportion 144 can have the same or different thicknesses. In examples, thelayers or sections that make up front portion 144 can be configured toexhibit the same or different stiffness. In examples in which seatback124 is configured to have more than one portion, the stiffness of frontportion 144 may be lower than the stiffness of any other portionincluded in seatback 124. In examples where the front portion 144includes two or more layers and/or sections 146, the overall stiffnessof front portion 144 can be lower than the overall stiffness of anyother portion included in seatback 124.

In examples, as illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2E, seatback 124 may include asecond portion or a rear portion 152 in addition to front portion 144.Rear portion 152 can include second or rear surface 136. Like frontportion 144, rear portion 152 may be configured as one or more layersand/or sections. In examples, rear portion 152 may include, at least inpart, one or more energy absorbing material. In examples, rear portion152 may include one or more comfort foam and/or foam like materials. Oneor more comfort foam and/or foam like materials in rear portion 152 mayprovide the same or different level of stiffness as the comfort foamand/or foam like material of front portion 144. In examples, rearportion 152 is configured to have the same thickness as front portion144. In examples, rear portion 152 is configured to have a differentthickness than front portion 144. In examples, rear portion 152 isconfigured to have a thickness that is greater than the thickness offront portion 144. In examples, rear portion 152 is configured to have athickness that is smaller than the thickness of front portion 144.

In examples, rear portion 152 may be configured as two or more layersand/or sections. Rear portion 152 as shown in FIGS. 2A-2E is only anexamples. Rear portion 152 may be tuned to exhibit any desiredcrushability performance. The thickness, structure design, and materialused for any layer and/or section that forms rear portion 152 can beselected based on the desired performance. In examples, rear portion 152can be configured to include one or more of a second layer or section148, a third layer or section 150, a fourth layer or section 154. Inexamples, rear portion 152 may be configured to include one or morefeatures 156 such as one or more support structures, like a frame, oneor more air pockets, one or more materials that is not a comfort foam oran energy absorbing material, or any combination thereof. As illustratedin FIGS. 2A-2E, in examples, one or more features 156 such as airpockets can be defined in at least a portion of layer or section 154.

The configuration of front and rear portions 144 and 152 is not limitedto the illustrated configuration. Front and rear portions 144 and 152can be configured to have fewer or additional layers, sections, and/orfeatures than as illustrated.

In examples, the stiffness of rear portion 152 can be set by usingdifferent materials for the one or more layers, sections, or structuresthat make up rear portion 152. For example, a second material, having asecond stiffness, may be used for second layer or section 148. A thirdmaterial, having a third stiffness, may be used for third layer orsection 150. A fourth material, having a fourth stiffness, may be usedfor fourth layer or section 154. In examples, the stiffness of rearportion 152 may also be affected by the thickness of the layers orsections and/or structures that make up rear portion 152. In examples,the layers or sections that make up rear portion 152 can have the sameor different thickness.

The stiffness of two or more materials used for different layers orsections and/or structures that make up seatback 124 may be the same ordifferent. In examples, at least two of the first, second, third, andfourth materials have different material stiffness. Likewise, thestiffness of two or more layers, sections, or portions of seatback 124can have the same or different stiffness. In examples, one portion ofseatback 124 has a stiffness that is greater than or less then thestiffness of at least a second portion of seatback 124. In examples, alayer or section in seatback 124 has a stiffness that is the same as,greater than, or less than the stiffness of another layer or section ofseatback 124.

As shown in FIG. 1 , as the vehicle 102 begins to change velocity, forexample, reduce its velocity due to braking and/or due to a collisionwith an object with the first end 112 of the vehicle 102, the occupant104A is restrained by a seatbelt 138A of a seatbelt system 140, whichmay prevent the occupant 104A from being thrown from the seat 106Atoward the occupant 104B and/or the seat 106B. Although the occupant104B is wearing a seatbelt 138B, the seatbelt 138B, at least initially,does not restrain the occupant 104B during the change in velocity and/orcollision. Rather, at least the back 126 of the occupant 104B will bethrown toward the first or front surface 132 of the seatback 124 in thedirection of travel.

FIG. 1 depicts an example triggering event, such as, for example, apredicted or actual change in velocity, and/or a predicted collision oran actual collision. As shown in FIG. 1 , the vehicle 102 is travellingat a velocity V in the first direction 114. A force F opposing thedirection of travel is applied to the first end of the vehicle 102 in adirection generally consistent with the second direction 116. Theoccupant 104A is seated in the seat 106A facing in the direction oftravel (i.e., the first direction 114), and the occupant 104B is seatedin the seat 106B facing opposite the direction of travel, for example,with the back 126 of the occupant 104B facing the first or front surface132 of the seatback 124. As shown, prior to the collision, the back ofthe occupant 104B may be spaced from the first or front surface 132 ofthe seatback 124 creating a space 134 therebetween.

The velocity of the back 126 of the occupant 104B will be substantiallythe same as the velocity of the vehicle 102 immediately prior to thereduction of the velocity of the vehicle 102 due to braking and/or thecollision. The velocity of the back 126 of the occupant 104B willcontinue at this velocity until the back 126 of the occupant 104Bcouples to the first or front surface 132 of the seatback 124, at whichtime, the velocity of the back 126 of the occupant 104B will besubjected to an abrupt change in velocity as the seatback 124 stops themotion of the back 126 of the occupant 104B. This abrupt change invelocity may increase the likelihood and/or the severity of injury tothe occupant 104B due to the collision. In some examples, the seatback124 may be configured to change in stiffness to cause earlier engagementof the energy absorbing material. This may result in a lower the peakmagnitude of the reaction forces, such as force due to acceleration andcompression force, experienced by the occupant. Earlier engagement ofthe energy absorbing material may lead to a peak reaction force againstthe back 126 of the occupant 104B having a reduced and/or substantiallyreduced magnitude. In some examples, the seatback 124 may be configuredalso to quickly be coupled to the back 126 of the occupant 104B asdescribed in more detailed below, and/or as, for examples, described inco-pending U.S. application Ser. Nos. 16/370,637 and 16/664,069, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIGS. 2A-2E show schematic side views of an occupant 104 in a seat 106during a collision between the vehicle 102 and an object behind seatback124. For example, during a collision vehicle 102 experiences at theleading end when the occupant 104 is facing a direction opposite thedirection of travel of the vehicle 102, with an example occupantprotection system 120 including a seatback 124 configured to protect theoccupant 104.

The example seat 106 shown in FIGS. 2A-2E show an example seat base 122configured to support at least a portion of a weight of the occupant 104of the seat 106, and an example seatback 124 associated with (e.g.,coupled to) the seat base 122 and configured to provide support to atleast a portion of the back 126 of the occupant 104. In the exampleshown in FIGS. 2A-2E, the example seatback 124 may include one or morelayers, sections, or portions as previously described. In the example ofFIGS. 2A-2E, seatback 124 can include a first portion 144 and a secondportion 152. The first portion 144 includes first or front surface 132and a first layer or section 146 of material and constitutes a frontportion of seatback 124. The second portion 152 is illustrated asincluding two or more layers or sections such as second layer or section148, third layer or section 150, and fourth layer or section 154. Thesecond portion 152 can include second or rear surface 136 and constitutea rear portion of the seatback 124. As illustrated, second or rearportion 152 may include one or more structures 156.

In examples, the first and second layers or sections 146 and 148 in thefirst and second portions 144 and 152 can be formed of comfort foam orcomfort material. In examples, the material used in layers or section146 and 148 may be the same or different. In examples, the third andfourth layer or section 150 and 154 of second portion 152 can include anenergy absorbing material. The material used in layer or section 150 canbe the same or different from the material used in layer or section 154.In examples, the stiffness of portion 144 is less than the stiffness ofportion 152. In examples, the stiffness of the first layer or section146 in portion 144 is less than the stiffness of the second, third, andfourth layers or sections 148, 150, and 154 in the second portion 152.In examples, the stiffness of the first layer or section 146 is equal toor less than the stiffness of the second layer or section 148. Inexamples, the stiffness of the second layer or section 148 is equal toor less than the stiffness of the third layer or section 150. Inexamples, the stiffness of the third layer or section 150 is equal to orless than the stiffness of the fourth layer or section 154.

In examples, when vehicle 102 experiences a change in velocityconsistent with a collision, such as, for example, a predicted or actualchange in velocity, and/or a predicted collision or an actual collisioninvolving the vehicle 102, as the back 126 of occupant 104B pressesagainst seatback 124, the force exerted at the first or front surface132 of seatback 124 may compress one or more of the first, second,third, and fourth layers or sections. As these layers or sections arecompressed, they provide a reaction force commensurate to their degreeof stiffness. In examples, the one or more layers, sections, or portionsof seatback 124 will provide sufficient reaction force toward the back126 of occupant 104 to counter the force back 126 of occupant 104 exertson seatback 124.

In examples, there is a time lapse from the moment the one or morelayers, sections, or portions of seatback 124 commence compressing andthe time by when they can provide the required reaction force. Theamount of reaction force exhibited by the one or more layers, sections,structures, or portions may remain low during initial compression. Aftera certain amount of compression, the reaction force may suddenly peak.The longer the ride down distance is, the longer the delay is in theapplication of the reaction force, and the greater the peak reactionforces, such as force due to acceleration and compression force, anoccupant may experience become. As such, the longer the delay inapplying a reaction force, the greater the peak of reaction force maybecome upon application. These factors may more likely lead to injury tothe occupant.

For example, during initial compression, because the comfort foam orcomfort material is located closest to the first or front surface 132,it will be the first to experience the pressure force from the occupantbody. In examples, one or more proximate or adjacent or consecutivelayers or sections of comfort foam or comfort material may account foran aggregate total thickness ranging from 10 mm to 80 mm, in examples 20mm to 25 mm. The comfort foam or comfort material will easily deformwithout providing much reaction force. The reaction force becomessubstantial when the energy absorbing material is engaged, which happensafter the comfort foam or comfort material has been fully or almostfully compressed. Thus, the compression of the comfort foam or comfortmaterial delays the engagement of the energy absorbing material and thusof application of substantive reaction force by seatback 124.

In examples, the occupant protection system 120 can be configured to atleast improving energy dissipation by decreasing the peak magnitude ofan applied reaction force. In examples, protection system 120 can beconfigured to reduce or eliminate peaks in applied reaction force. Inexamples, the occupant protection system 12—can be configured to cause amore gradual energy dissipation that can present a decreased probabilityfor injury. In examples, the occupant protection system 120 can beconfigured to cause the stiffness of seatback 124 or of at least aportion, layer, or section of setback 124 to increase in response to asignal indicating a change in velocity. In examples, the occupantprotection system 120 can be configured to compress the comfortable foamor comfort material to cause engagement of the energy absorbing materialsooner.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2E, in examples, occupant protection system120 may include a seat actuator system 200. In examples, the seatactuator system 200 can include an actuator controller 202, and a seatactuator 204. In examples, the seat actuator 204 can include one or moreinflatable bladders 206 located in seatback 124. In examples, the seatactuator 204 can include one or more expansion devices 208. In examples,the seat actuator 204 can include one or more vents 210. In examples anyone of the one or more expansion devices 208 can be in fluidcommunication with or operably connected to at least one of the one ormore inflatable bladders 206. In examples, any one or more vents 210 canbe in fluid communication with or operably connected to at least one ofthe one or more inflatable bladders 206. In examples, seat actuator 204can access one or more fuel sources 218.

In examples, the seat actuator 204 can include one or more expandableportions 226 located inside seatback 124. In examples, one or moreexpandable portions 226 may be located outside seatback 124. Inexamples, one or more expandable portions 226 can be located insideseatback 124, and one or more expandable portions 226 can be locatedoutside seatback 124. In examples, the one or more expandable portionscan be one or more inflatable bladders 206. In examples, seat actuator204 includes an expandable portion 226 consisting of a single inflatablebladder 206. In examples, an expandable portion 226 of seat actuator 204can include one or more inflatable bladders 206. The one or moreinflatable bladders 206 can be located inside seatback 124, outsideseatback 124, or both. An inflatable bladder 206 can include one or morechambers 216. In examples, an inflatable bladder 206 may be configuredto have two or more chambers 216. In an example illustrated in FIG. 2C,an inflatable bladder 206 may be configured to have three chambers 216a, 216 b, and 216 c. Fewer or more chambers may also be implemented. Inexamples, the inflatable bladder 206 has one chamber. In examples, theinflatable bladder 206 can have two or more chambers.

An inflatable bladder 206 may be formed from an impermeable,semi-permeable, and/or permeable material, such that flow of air and/orfluid (e.g., a gas and/or a liquid) through the inflatable bladder 206may be at least partially inhibited. Inflatable bladder 206 can be madeof any known material used for front impact airbags in vehicles.Inflatable bladder 206 can be made of nylon fabric. In examples,inflatable bladder 206 can be may of a polymer fabric, sheet metal,metal foil, natural fiber, or any combination thereof.

The one or more inflatable bladders 206 can be sized and shaped asdesired. In examples, an inflatable bladder can have a height rangingfrom 100 mm to 400 mm. In examples, the inflatable bladder can have aheight ranging from 200 to 250 mm. In examples, the inflatable bladdercan have a breadth ranging from 200 mm to 400 mm, in examples theinflatable bladder can have a breadth ranging from 250 to 300 mm. Inexamples, when deployed, i.e. fully pressurized or inflated, theinflatable bladder can have a thickness ranging from about 20 mm to 100mm, in examples, the inflatable bladder can have a thickness of about 30mm. In examples, when deployed, i.e. fully pressurized or inflated, theinflatable bladder may have a volume ranging from 0.4 liters to 16liters.

In examples, the size of the one or more dimensions of the inflatablebladder can be selected based on the size of seatback 124. In examples,the deployed thickness of the inflatable bladder can be selected basedon the amount of comfort foam or comfort material used for the one ormore layers, sections, or portions of seatback 124. In examples, thesize of the one or more dimensions of the inflatable bladder can beselected based on the intended location for the inflatable bladder. Inexamples, the size of the one or more dimensions of the inflatablebladder can be selected based on the desired shape of the inflatablebladder.

An inflatable bladder 206 can have any desired shape. In examples, aninflatable bladder can be circular, oval, square, rectangular,polygonal, or have any regular or irregular shape. In examples, theshape of a bladder 206 can be selected based on the shape of theseatback 124, the intended location for the inflatable bladder, the sizeof the inflatable bladder, or any combination thereof. In examples, oneor more restraining means 224 such as tethers, belts, ribs or likestructures can be included inside, outside, or both inside and outsideof the one or more inflatable bladders to ensure that when deployed aninflatable bladder can maintain a desired shape, size, or both. Usingone or more restraining means 224 can be advantageous in the event aninflatable bladder is over pressurized. In examples, having one or morerestraining means included in the one or more inflatable bladders canhelp avoid compressing the energy absorbing material during deploymentof the one or more inflatable bladders. In examples, one or morerestraining means 224 may be configured to also define two or morechambers in an inflatable bladder 206.

In exemplary embodiments, the seat actuator 204 can include anexpandable portion with more than one inflatable bladder 206. Inexamples with two or more inflatable bladders 206, the size and shape ofeach of the two or more inflatable bladders 206 can be selected based onthe size of the seatback 124, amount of comfort foam or comfort materialused for the one or more layers, sections, or portions of seatback 124,the total number of inflatable bladders present, the location of theinflatable bladder, or any combination thereof.

The location in seatback 124 of the one or more inflatable bladders 206of the expandable portion 226 of seat actuator 204 can be selected basedon the desired effect. As illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2E, one or moreinflatable bladders 206 can be at one or more locations inside oroutside of seatback 124. FIGS. 2A-2E illustrate that seatback 124 can beconfigured to support one or more body areas of an occupant. Forexamples, seatback 124 can support the cervical region 400, the thoracicregion 402, the lumbar region 404, the pelvic region 406, or anycombination thereof. For purposes of this disclosure, these regions areintended to correspond respectively to the neck or cervical region 414,torso or thoracic region 412, lower back or lumbar region 410, and thepelvis or pelvic region 408 of a seated occupant 104 who is a human male182 cm in height, with a sitting height of 89 cm.

In examples, the one or more inflatable bladders 206 may be sized andlocated to extend across any one or more of the regions 400, 402, 404,and 406. In exemplary embodiments, at least one inflatable bladder 206extends across two or more of the above regions 400, 402, 404, and 406.In examples, the inflatable bladder 206 extends across the thoracicregion 402. In examples, the inflatable bladder 206 extends across thethoracic region 402 and the lumbar region 404. In examples, theinflatable bladder 206 is located such that it can reach one or more ofthe above regions. For example, inflatable bladder 206 can extend fromthe cervical region 400, across thoracic region 402, to the lumbarregion 404. In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 can locatedat one or more of the above regions. For example, a separate inflatablebladder 206 can be located at each region 400, 402, 404, and 406. Inexamples, a separate inflatable bladder 206 is located at each of one ormore regions 400, 402, 404, and 406. Any combination can be implemented.In examples, a first inflatable bladder 206 can be located at thethoracic region 402, and a second inflatable bladder 206 can be locatedat the lumbar region 404.

Various means may be employed to secure one or more inflatable bladders206 in place. In examples, the one or more inflatable bladders 206 canbe attached to one or more layers or sections of seatback 124. Forexamples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 can be secured in place bystitching, adhesive, hook and loop fasteners, one or more pins or likefastening means.

In examples, the one or more inflatable bladders 206 can be providedproximate to, adjacent to, or in proximity of one or more layers orsections of comfort foam or comfort material in seatback 124. Inexamples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 can be located at first orfront surface 132 of seatback 124. In examples, one or more inflatablebladders 206 can be located between a first layer or section ofcomfortable foam or comfort material and second or rear surface 136 ofseatback 124.

In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 can be located in anintermediate portion 160 of seatback 124 that may be between two otherportions. For example, intermediate portion 160 may be between twoconsecutive layers or sections or portion of seatback 124. For example,intermediate portion 160 may be between a portion 144 and a portion 152as described herein. Intermediate portion 160 may be inside seatback124. In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 can be locatedbetween a first layer or section 146, or portion 144 of seatback 124 andsecond or rear surface 136 of seatback 124.

In examples, one or more layers of the comfort material may be containedwithin an enclosure 228. When such an enclosure 228 is present, one ormore inflatable bladders 206 may be located inside or outside the sameenclosure. In examples, one or more layers or sections of comfortmaterial and one or more inflatable bladders 206 are contained within anenclosure 228. For example, as shown in FIG. 2C, layers 146 and 148 ofcomfort material can be located in enclosure 228 along with one or moreinflatable bladders 206. The enclosure may be permeable and/or include afilter, vent or other mechanism to enable air to leave the enclosurewith constraining comfort material. The vent or filter can be similar tovent 210. In examples, a vent 210 can be used for both an inflatablebladder 206 and an enclosure 228. In response to a compression actuatorbeing enabled, comfort foam can be compressed within an enclosure 228 toform a structure that may act as an energy absorbing material sufficientto mitigate at least in part damage to a user during an adverse event.The enclosure can be a permeable or impermeable membrane and can be madeof similar materials as described for the one or more inflatablebladders 206. In examples, the enclosure may include the outer surfaceof the seatback 124. In examples, the enclosure 228 surrounding thecomfort material can be an enclosing membrane 228 within seatback 124.

In exemplary embodiments, one or more inflatable bladders can be locatedbetween a first portion 144 of seatback 124 and a second portion 152 ofseatback 124. For example, one or more inflatable bladders 206 can belocated between front portion 144 and rear portion 152. In examples, oneor more inflatable bladders can be located between a first layer orsection 146 of portion 144 of seatback 124 and second layer or section148 of portion 152 of seatback 124.

In exemplary embodiments, one or more inflatable bladders 206 arelocated proximate to or adjacent to one or more of a comfort foam orcomfort material layer or section. For examples, one or more inflatablebladders 206 can be located proximate to or adjacent to one layer orsection 146, layer or section 148, or both. In examples, the one or moreinflatable bladders 206 can be located inside second or rear portion 152of seatback 124 between any two layers or sections at least one of whichincludes comfort foam or comfort material. For example, one or moreinflatable bladders 206 can be located between second layer or section148 and third layer or section 150.

In examples, two or more inflatable bladders 206 may be located atdifferent portions of seatback 124. In examples, an inflatable bladder206 may be spaced in the x (lateral), y (vertical), and/or z(longitudinal) direction from a second inflatable bladder 206. Inexamples, a first and second inflatable bladders 206 are spaced fromeach other in the x, y, and/or z directions. For instance, in examples,a first and second inflatable bladders 206 may be spaced in the lateraldirection for the same and/or for two separate seating positions. Inexamples, a first and second inflatable bladders 206 may be spaced inthe vertical direction for upper and lower portions of a same seatingposition. In examples, a first and second inflatable bladders 206 may bespaced in the longitudinal direction, for example in a stackedconfiguration one in front of the other and/or one being ahead of theother with respect to the position of the occupant. For example, one ormore inflatable bladder 206 can be located between first layer orsection 146 and second layer or section 148, and one or more inflatablebladder 206 can be located at the surface 132 of seatback 124. Inexamples, one or more inflatable bladder 206 can be located betweenfirst layer or section 146 and second layer or section 148, and one ormore inflatable bladder 206 can be located between second layer orsection 148 and third layer or section 150 of seatback 124. Also, aninflatable bladder 206 may be located in the lumbar region of seatback124 while another inflatable bladder 206 may be located in the thoracicregion of seatback 124. In examples, two or more inflatable bladders 206may be located in the same region. For example, two inflatable bladders206 may be both located in the thoracic region of seatback 124 eitherspaced in the x-direction (i.e. laterally), in the y-direction (i.e.vertically), and/or in the z-direction (i.e. longitudinally).

In examples, the one or more inflatable bladders 206 can beindependently controlled and/or operated. In examples, where seatactuator 204 is configured with two or more inflatable bladders 206located in seatback 124, the two or more inflatable bladders 206 can bedeployed simultaneous, at different times, selectively, or anycombination thereof. Selective deployment may include the deployment ofat least one but not all, of the two or more inflatable bladders 206. Inexamples, the occupant protection system 120 can be configured to causedeployment of the one or more inflatable bladders 206 depending on anyone or more parameters such as environment, type or degree of change invelocity experienced by the vehicle 102, type or degree of an actualcollision or predicted collision involving vehicle 102, the presence orabsence of an occupant 104, a weight of occupant 104, a height orsitting height of an occupant 104, a width of an occupant 104, thesitting position of occupant 104, the presence or absence of a ridingaid device such as a child car seat, a selected input by an occupant oruser of vehicle 102, a presetting in vehicle computing device(s) 304, apresetting in computing device(s) 330, or any combination thereof.

In examples, vehicle 102 can include an object classification system asdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 3 , and/or other portions of vehiclesystems like one or more sensors 158 may be configured to generatesignals indicative of the presence or absence of an occupant, the weightof an occupant, the size of an occupant such as a height, sittingheight, and/or width of an occupant, the sitting position of anoccupant, the direction an occupant may be facing, for example, in thedirection of travel or opposite the direction of travel, the presence ofa riding aid device, such as a child car seat, or any combinationthereof. In examples, the additional parameters listed above can bemonitored or derived from the information captured by the existingsensors and monitors as described herein with respect to vehicle 102 ormay also be monitored or derived from readings using one or more sensors158. The one or more sensors 158 can located anywhere inside or outsidevehicle 102. In examples, one or more sensors 158 may be located in seatbase 122, in seatback 124, or both. The one or more sensors 158 can beconfigured as part of one or more perception component 322, sensorsystem(s) 306, vehicle computing device(s) 304 and/or computingdevice(s) 330. The one or more sensors 158 can be in communication withvehicle computing device(s) 304, computing device(s) 330, occupantprotection system 120, seat actuator system 212, or any combinationthereof.

In examples, the occupant protection system 120 can be configured toalso assist in more quickly engaging or coupling the back 126 of theoccupant 104 to seatback 124. In examples, at the time of an event orcollision event, the occupant protection system 120 may detect a gap 134between at least a portion of back portion 126 of an occupant 104 and atleast a portion of first or front surface 132 of seatback 127. Inexamples, the occupant protection system 120 may be configured todetermine whether gap 134 is beyond a preset threshold. In examples, theoccupant protection system 120 may be configured to minimize oreliminate gap 134.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2F-2G, in examples, the seat actuator 204 ofoccupant protection system 120, may be configured to include anexpandable portion 226 at a first or front surface 132 of seatback 124.The expandable portion 226, as described earlier, may include one ormore inflatable bladders 206. As illustrated in FIG. 2F, at a triggeringevent, upon detection of a gap 134 or upon detection that the gap 134 ofsize a is beyond a preset threshold, actuator controller 204 can causeone or more inflatable bladders 206 at the first or front surface 132 ofseatback 124 to deploy. As illustrated in FIG. 2G, in examples, the oneor more inflatable bladders 206 may be configured to at least partiallyextend outward toward at least a portion the back 126 of occupant 104.In examples, upon deployment the one or more inflatable bladders 206 mayremain inside seatback 124, underneath first or front surface 135 ofseatback 124. In such examples, upon deployment, the one or moreinflatable bladders 206 may be configured to press first or frontsurface 135 of seatback 124 toward at least a portion of back 126 ofoccupant 104. In examples, the first or front surface 135 may beconfigured to allow exit of one or more inflatable bladders 206 upondeployment. In such examples, the one or more deployed inflatablebladders 206 may directly contact at least a portion of occupant 104and/or at least a portion of back 126 of occupant 104. In examples, oneor more inflatable bladders 206 may be located at first or front surface135, outside of seatback 124. In such examples, the one or moreinflatable bladders 206 may directly contact at least a portion ofoccupant 104 and/or at least a portion of back 126 of occupant 104before and/or after deployment.

By either pushing first or front surface 135 toward at least a portionof back 126 of occupant 104, or by exiting seatback 124 through first orfront surface 135 or being located outside seatback 124 and inflatingtoward at least a portion of back 126 of occupant 104, the deployed oneor more inflatable bladders 206 may reduce or eliminate gap 134 betweenat least a portion of back 126 of occupant 104 and seatback 124, forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 2G. By reducing or eliminating gap 134,the occupant 104 may be engaged or coupled with seatback 124 earlier.

In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 may be deployed at thesecond or rear surface 136 of seatback 124 to cause the seatback 124 toshift forward and thus also reduce or eliminate gap 134 between frontsurface 135 and at least a portion of back 126 of occupant 104. This mayalso result in earlier engagement between occupant 104 and seatback 124.In examples, the deployment of one or more inflatable bladders 206 caninduce a force at second or rear surface 136 of seatback 124. Inexamples, the force can be sufficient to shift the position of seatback124 toward at least a portion of back 126 of occupant 104. In examples,the shift of seatback 124 toward at least a portion of back 126 ofoccupant 104, may be allowed through a pivoting mechanism. In examples,the translation of seatback 124 toward at least a portion of back 126 ofoccupant 104 may be limited by a gear that may include one or morelocking teeth, or may have a pin or like structure to prevent excessivetranslation of seatback 124 toward at least a portion of back 126 ofoccupant 104.

Quicker engagement or coupling of occupant 104 and seatback 124 duringan event or collision event can help decrease the reaction force appliedto the occupant, as discussed in more detail in, for example, U.S.application Ser. Nos. 16/370,637; 16/664,069, which discussion isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In examples, the one or more inflatable bladders 206 can be deployed oneor more times. In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 can bereplaced after deployment. In examples, one or more inflatable bladders206 can deflate after deployment and return to their pre-deployment orstowed state. In their stowed state, i.e. prior to deployment, the oneor more inflatable bladders 206 may be deflated or unpressurized. Inexamples, in their stowed stated one or more inflatable bladders 206 areempty or substantially empty. In examples, when in the stowed stated, nofoam or comfort material and no energy absorbing material is presentinside the one or more inflatable bladders 206.

In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 may be configured to bein fluid communication or operably connected to other one or moreinflatable bladders 206.

In examples, as shown in FIG. 2D, one or more inflatable bladders 206may be configured to be in fluid communication and/or operably connectedto one or more auxiliary reservoirs 220. An auxiliary reservoir 220 canbe configured in a manner similar to one or more inflatable bladders 206but can be operably connected to one of more of bladders 206 in a way toonly allow flow to reservoir 220 under a desired condition. One or morereservoirs 220 can be provided at the same or similar locations asdescribed for the inflatable bladders 206 or may be placed at otherlocations. For example, one or more reservoirs 220 may be locatedoutside of seatback 124. For example, one or more reservoirs 220 may belocated at second or rear surface 136 of seatback 124.

An operable connection between an inflatable bladder 206 and anauxiliary reservoir 220 can be made via one or more valves 222. Valves222 may be configured to controlled or operated by actuator controller202. Valves 222 may be configured to independently operate. In examples,a valve 222 may be configured to allow flow between an inflatablebladder 206 and a reservoir 220 when a pressure exceeds a giventhreshold.

Reservoir 220 may be deployed in conditions where it may be desired todeflate or disperse the gas inside one or more inflatable bladders 206.In examples, inflatable bladders 206 may become over inflated, and itmay be desirable to disperse the gas to another location away from theone or more inflatable bladders 206. In examples, one or more vents 210as described below malfunctions or become clogged, and alternate ventingmay be required. In examples, the occupancy safety system 120 maydetermine that for safety or comfort of the occupant it is desirable todisperse the gas inside one or more inflatable bladders 206 over alarger area. Any of these instances, and any other like situation, maybenefit from the presence of one or more auxiliary reservoirs 220operably connected to one or more inflatable bladders 206.

In examples, a reservoir 220 may be used to aid the inflation of one ormore inflatable bladders 206. For example, a reservoir 220 may beconfigured to be repeatedly re-pressurized by, for example, a pump,pneumatic cylinder, or other like device as described for the expansiondevice 208. A reservoir 220 may be used to store an inflating mediumthat can then be transferred to one or more inflatable bladders 206 whendesired.

In some examples, the seat actuator 204 may include one or moreexpansion devices 208. For example, the seat actuator 204 may include anexpansion device operably connected to and/or in flow communication 212with an interior of an inflatable bladder 206 and configured to increasepressure in the interior of an inflatable bladder 206. In examples, asillustrated in FIG. 2D, one expansion device 208 a is in flowcommunication and/or operably connected to one inflatable bladder 206 a.In examples, as also illustrated in FIG. 2D, one expansion device 208 bmay be in flow communication and/or operably connected to two or moreinflatable bladders 206 b and 206 c. In some examples, the expansiondevice may include, a compressor, pump, inflator, pressure reservoir,pneumatic cylinder, gas generator, pyrotechnic charge, propellants, anycombination thereof, and/or any other suitable devices or systems. Inexamples, the one or more expansion devices 208 are inflators. The oneor more expansion devices 208, once triggered, can use inflating mediasuch as solid fuel, compressed fluid such as liquid or gas, or anycombination thereof to produce rapidly expanding gas to inflate the oneor more inflatable bladders 206. In examples, the one or more expansiondevices 208 may be reversable or be configured to be operated inreverse. In examples the one or more expansion devices 208 may beconfigured to be operated to exhaust and/or to deflate the one or moreinflatable bladders 206. For example, the one or more expansion devices208 can be triggered to exhaust any inflating media from one or moreinflatable bladders 206. The one or more expansion devices 208 may beoperably connected to and/or in flow communication with one or morefluid and/or solid fuel sources 218. The one or more expansion device208 may be located in any convenient location. In examples, one or moreexpansion devices 208 are located in seatback 124 at a location that isoff-center with respect to back 126 of a seated occupant 104. Inexamples, one or more expansion devices 208 are located in seatback 124outside an area against which at least a portion of back 126 of anoccupant 104 presses during a collision or change of velocity event of avehicle 102.

The inflating media used by the one or more expansion devices 208 can bea fluid such as a liquid, a gas, or a combination thereof. The inflatingmedia used by the one or more expansion devices 208 can be a solid fuel.In examples, one or more expansion devices 208 can use combination offluid and solid. The inflating medium can be a single compound, amixture of compounds, or a solution. In examples, the fluid can be air.In examples, the fluid can be argon gas. In examples, the fluid can benitrogen. In examples the fluid can be liquid nitrogen. In examples thefluid can be CO₂, for example compressed carbon dioxide. In examples thesolid fuel can be sodium azide.

The inflation media source 218 can be any suitable source. Source 218may be configured as a single source, or more multiple sources. Inexamples, source 218 may be configured as a system that draws from oneor more locations. For example, source 218 may draw any combination ofgas, liquid, or solid from one or more locations. Different sources maybe combined in the process of being delivered to inflatable bladder 206by an expansion device 208. In examples, the source 218 may beconfigured as one or more containers. In examples, the source 218 may beconfigured as one or more rechargeable containers. In examples thesource 218 may be configured as one or more replaceable containers. Acontainer can include a fluid, a solid, or a combination thereof. Inexamples, source 218 can be a container such as a canister. In examples,the canister can be a rechargeable canister, a replaceable canister, orboth. The canister can be of compressed gas, compressed liquid, or acombination thereof. In examples, the source 218 can be the atmosphere.For example, expansion device 208 may be configured to aspirate air fromthe environment and inject it into bladder 206. In examples, theaspiration and injection can be carried out simultaneously. In examples,the aspiration can occur prior to injection and held in a storagecontainer ready for injection.

In some examples, seat actuator 204 may include one or more vents 210configured to release pressure inside one or more bladders 206 before,during and/or after compression of the seatback 124. For example, the atleast one vent 210 may be operably connected to or in flow communication214 with the one or more inflatable bladders 206. In examples where twoor more inflatable bladders 206 are used, as shown in FIG. 2D, each ofinflatable bladder 206 a, 206 b, and 206 c may be associated with itsown vent 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c respectively. In examples, a vent 210may also be operably connected to and/or in flow communication with twoor more inflatable bladders 206. In examples, one or more vents 210 canbe in flow communication with an outer portion seatback 124. Inexamples, one or more vents 210 can be in flow communication with one ormore features 156, such as for example an air pocket. In examples, theat least one vent 210 may be configured to affect the stiffnesscharacteristic of the seatback 124 before, during and/or aftercompression of the seatback 124. In some examples, the at least one vent210 may be configured as one or more valves configured for controlledpassage of air and/or fluid (e.g., a gas and/or fluid) through the oneor more valves. In some examples, the one or more valves may beconfigured (e.g., via size and/or adjustment) to provide a desiredstiffness characteristic for the seatback 124, for example, such that,in combination with the one or more layers, sections, structures, orportions of seatback 124, as at least a portion of the back 126 of theoccupant 104 pushes against the first or front surface 132 of theseatback 124 and the seatback 124 is at least partially compressed, areaction force from the seatback 124 against the portion of the back 126of the occupant 104 increases from a minimal reaction force (e.g., zeroforce) to a first reaction force. The dissipation rate of a vent 210 isnot limited to a particular range. In examples, a vent 210 can beconfigured to have a dissipation rate of about 0.06 liters/second. Inexemplary embodiments, the dissipation rate may be controlled. Controlcan be applied to the vent 210 through one or more valves. In exemplaryembodiments, controlling dissipation rate can help more graduallydistribute the reaction forced against at least a portion of back 126 ofoccupant 104.

In examples, instead of using one or more vent 210 to release pressureinside one or more inflatable bladder 206, seat actuator 204 may beconfigured with one or more permeable or semi-permeable inflatablebladders 206. In examples, one or more permeable or semi-permeablebladders 206 may be configured to allow the escape of a fluid containedtherein. For example, the material of one or more inflatable bladders206 may be permeable or semi-permeable to a gas such as air, argon,nitrogen, or other gas that may be relied upon to pressurize or inflatebladder 206. In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 may beconfigured to have a seem along at least a portion of their perimeterthat may allow for the degassing of the bladder. In examples, one ormore inflatable bladders 206 may be configured to allow a fluid toescape through a seem along at least a portion of its perimeter, throughpermeation, a vent 210, a valve 222, or any combination thereof. Inexamples, seatback 124 can be configured to allow permeation of a fluidsuch that as the fluid escapes one or more inflatable bladders 206, thefluid can travel through the one or more layers or sections, either bypermeation or through designed airways or pores, and escape into theenvironment outside seatback 124.

As shown in FIGS. 2A-2E, some examples of the occupant protection system120 may include a seat actuator system 200 including an actuatorcontroller 202 configured to cause a stiffness of at least a portion ofthe seatback 124 to increase. In some examples, the actuator controller202 may be configured to receive one or more triggering signals from oneor more sensors, the safety system, the planning system, or anycombination thereof, indicative of change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision, and based at least in part on the one or more signals, causea seat actuator 204 to increase the stiffness of at least a portion ofthe seatback 124 that is being or is about to be compressed by back 126of the occupant 104, for example, as described herein. In examples, thestiffness at least at a portion of seatback 124 may be increased bycompressing at least a portion of a comfort foam or comfort material inseatback 124. The actuator controller 202 may receive one or moresignals indicative of parameters other than the one or more signalsindicative of a predicted or actual collision, and, based at least inpart on the one or more signals indicative of the other parameters,cause the seat actuator 204 to inflate the one or more inflatablebladders 206 in at least a portion of the seatback 124 against which atleast a portion of the back 126 of the occupant 104. In examples,deployment of one or more inflatable bladders 206 can cause compressionof at least a portion of a comfort foam or comfort material located inseatback 124.

When deployed, i.e. pressurized or inflated, one or more inflatablebladders 206 can provide a stiffer support than what may be provided bythe comfort foam or comfort materials used to for the one or morelayers, sections, or portions of seatback 124. In examples, one or morebladders 206 can be located at first or front surface 132 of seatback124. As such, when pressurized or inflated, the bladder 206 can providea stiffness against at least a portion of back 126 of occupant 104 atfirst or front the surface 132 of seatback 124. Likewise, as the one ormore inflatable bladders 206 are inflated or pressurized, they pressagainst surface 132 of seatback 124 and thus against any layer orsection of comfort foam or comfort material beneath first or frontsurface 135. In so doing, the pressurized or inflated one or morebladders 206 compress the comfort foam or comfort material. Similarly,in examples where at least one layer or section of comfort foam orcomfort material is between one or more inflatable bladders 206 andfirst or front surface 132 of seatback 124 and/or in examples where oneor more inflatable bladders 206 are located between two consecutive oradjacent layers or sections of comfort foam or comfort material, whenthe one or more inflatable bladders 206 are pressurized or inflated theywill press against and thus at least partially compress the comfort foamor comfort material of the adjacent layers or sections. By compressingat least in part the comfort foam or comfort material of at least one ormore layers, sections, or portions of seatback 124, the seatback 124will increase in stiffness and cause an earlier application of areactive force to back 126 of occupant 104 then if no inflatable bladderwere present. In this manner, the energy absorbing material can be morequickly engaged, and the reaction force can be applied earlier, thusspreading out the application of the reaction force more gradually, orat a lower magnitude during the collision event.

In some examples, the seat actuator system 200 may be configured tocause an increase a stiffness of at least a portion of seatback 124 byinflating one or more inflatable bladders 206 before, during, and/orafter the reduction in velocity of the vehicle 102 due to braking and/orthe collision. In examples, seat actuator system 200 may be configuredto cause deployment of seat actuator 204 before a change in velocity orcollision event occurs. In examples, the deployment of seat actuator204, and thus of one or more bladders 206 can be at time of detection ofa braking or of a collision, or of a predicted collision, at time equal−400 ms. In examples, the deployment occurs at the time of a change invelocity or collision event at time equal to 0 ms. In examples, thedeployment can follow the reduction in velocity or collision event.

In examples, full deployment can occur quickly. In examples, deploymentoccur from time at 0 ms to time 10 ms. In examples, full deployment ofan inflatable bladder 206 may be designed to occur in 10 ms. Inexamples, deployment can be only partial deployment. In examples,deployment can be gradual. In examples, deployment can be delayed. Inexamples, the time to deploy may be shorter or longer than 10 ms.

In examples, occupant protection system 120 with actuator system 200 andseat actuator controller 202 may be configured to control deploymentand/or rate of deployment of one or more inflatable bladders 206 basedon a set of deployment parameters. Rate of deployment refers to thespeed at which one or more bladders 206 are pressurized. Deploymentrefers to the full or partial deployment of seat actuator 204. Inexamples, where seat actuator 204 is configured to have two or moreinflatable bladders 206, deployment may include the selective deploymentof one or more inflatable bladders 206, the delayed deployment of one ormore inflatable bladders 206 as compared to other inflatable bladders206, or any combination thereof. In examples, actuator system 200 and/orseat actuator controller 202 may control depressurization or deflationof one or more inflatable bladders 206.

In examples, one or more vehicle system(s) can be configured todetermine one or more conditions associated with the triggering event.The seat actuator system 200 may be configured to determine, based atleast in part on the one or more conditions associated with thetriggering event, a pressure to which to inflate one or more inflatablebladders 206. In examples, the occupant protection system 120 may beconfigured to determine deployment control, pressurization control,depressurization control, or any combination thereof based on the typeof event being detected or predicted, the gravity of the event, presenceof the occupant, facing direction of the occupant, the position of theoccupant, the size of the occupant, the presence of a riding aid device,such as a child car seat, an override input by an occupant or user, orany combination thereof. An object classification system and/or otherportions of vehicle systems may generate signals indicative of whetheran occupant is present in a seat of the vehicle, what direction theoccupant may be facing, and other information about the occupant such assize and weight. In some examples, one or more signals can be indicativeof the seat in which the occupant is seated. This can help determinewhether the occupant is facing the direction of travel or opposite thedirection of travel. Information can be monitored via one or moresensors 158, perception component 322, sensor system(s) 306, through thevehicle computing device(s) 304 and/or computing device(s) 330 asdiscussed earlier, or any combination thereof.

In examples, determination, based at least in part on the one or moreconditions associated with the triggering event, of a pressure to whichto pressurize or inflate and/or depressurize or deflate one or moreinflatable bladders 206 can be made by one or more vehicle system(s),such as by localization component 320, perception component 322,planning component 324, and/or safety system 338. In such examples, thecontrol instructions may then be communicated to seat actuator system200 of occupant protection system 120. The control instructions can becommunicated in addition to or be embedded or inherent to a triggeringsignal sent to the occupant protection system 120.

In examples, seat actuator system 200 and/or seat actuator 202 may causeor be instructed to cause deployment of seat actuator 204 to inflate oneor more inflatable bladders 206 with less pressure when a lighteroccupant, such as child, is detected as the occupant then when a muchheavier occupant, such as a full grown adult, is the occupant. Inexamples, one or more weight thresholds to classify an occupant aslight, average, or heavy for purposes of deployment control.

In examples, seat actuator system 200 may be configured to cause one ormore inflatable bladders 206 to pressurize at the same pressureindependent of detected conditions.

In examples, seat actuator system 200 may prevent deployment of seatactuator 204 to inflate one or more inflatable bladders 206 when thechange in velocity or collision event is minor. In examples, seatactuator system 200 may be configured to include one or more thresholdindicators based on which seat actuator system 200 can determine whetherto cause deployment of seat actuator 204.

In examples, the determination to deploy seat actuator 204 based on thedegree of change in velocity or collision event, based for example onone or more threshold indicators as described above, can be made by oneor more other vehicle system(s), such as by one or more of the sensorsystem(s) 306 of the vehicle, localization component 320, perceptioncomponent 322, planning component 324, and/or safety system 338, insteadof by seat actuator system 200. In such an example, the one or morethreshold indicators may be included in one or more other vehiclesystem(s), and seat actuator system 200 of occupant protection system120 can cause deployment of seat actuator 204 in direct response to thetriggering signal by one or more of the other vehicle system(s).

Examples of threshold indicators may signal the presence of an occupant,a magnitude of a velocity change, a force of impact in a collision, thedirection of a collision relative to the vehicle, a force applied ontothe occupant in view of the change in velocity or collision event, avelocity of the vehicle, a direction of the vehicle, a pose of thevehicle, the size of the occupant, a weight of the occupant, theposition of an occupant or any combination thereof. Additionaldatapoints may also be used as thresholds. In examples, occupantprotection system 120 via seat actuator system 200 and/or actuatorcontroller 202 can cause or be directed to cause deployment of seatactuator 204 with less pressure when the magnitude of a change invelocity is below a preestablished threshold or to delay or avoiddeployment if a predicted collision event does not occur within a giventime period, or if the collision event is a minor event. As used herein,a minor event refers to an event in which the reaction forces onto theoccupant are below a preestablished threshold.

In examples, seat actuator system 200 and/or actuator controller 202 cancontrol the pressure at which one or more inflatable bladders 206 areinflated. In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206 arepressurized at about 22 kPa. In examples, one or more inflatablebladders 206 are pressurized at about 10 kPa, 15 kPa, 20 kPa, 25 kPa, 30kPa, 40 kPa, 50 kPa, 100 kPa, 105 kPa, 200 kPa, or 310 kPa. Thesepressures are only an example. In examples, one or more inflatablebladders 206 is sufficiently pressurized to compress at least a portionof one or more layers or sections of comfortable foam or comfortmaterial that is proximate, adjacent, or in the vicinity of one or moreinflatable bladder 206. In examples, one or more inflatable bladders 206is inflated to a volume of 0.6 liters.

In some examples, the seat actuator system 200 may be in communicationwith one or more systems of the vehicle 102 and may be configured tocause activation of seat actuator 204 based at least in part, forexample, on one or more signals received from the other systems of thevehicle 102.

In examples, the deployment of the seat actuator may be determined priorto the determination of the change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision and saved for use a later instance. In some instances, one ormore deployment parameters may be updated continuously or periodicallyduring the ride in the event the user materially changes position(slouches, leans forward, etc.). In some instances, deploymentparameters can be determined using one or more sensors of a vehicle(e.g., a vision camera, a contact sensor, a capacitance sensor, etc.).Determining deployment parameters beforehand (e.g., before a predictedcollision) to increase a response time to properly deploy the seatactuator. Moreover, after this initial determination, it is contemplatedthat the occupant may manually or electronically control the position ofthe seat. Despite this adjustment by the occupant, in the event of thepredicted collision, the seat actuator may deploy according to thepre-determined parameters. In some instances, the deployment parametersmay be determined using known characteristic(s) of the occupant and/or aprofile (e.g., account) of the occupant, such as height, weight, headsize, etc. For example, a vehicle used for mass transportation maycommunicate with a mobile device of a user or otherwise identify andstore a per-user profile including information pertaining to the safedeployment of the seat actuator. In certain instances, the deploymentparameters may change depending on the seat orientation, seatconfiguration, characteristics of the occupant (e.g., weight, height,etc.) and/or may be uniquely associated with a specific seating positionwithin a vehicle. For example, deployment parameters may be differentbetween a rearward-facing occupant, a side-facing occupant, and/or aforward-facing occupant within a vehicle.

In some examples consistent with the example shown in FIGS. 2A-2E thereaction force is applied earlier than if no inflatable bladder 206 hadbeen deployed and thus the energy can be absorbed more gradually acrossthe time period of the compression event, for example, during acollision and/or rapid deceleration of the vehicle 102.

Some examples consistent with the example seatback 124 shown in FIG. 2Fmay also result in reducing a gap 134 between at least a portion of theback 126 of the occupant 104 to at least a portion of the seatback 124,resulting in a reduced reaction force being transmitted to at least aportion of the back 126 of the occupant 104 during the compressionevent, for example, during a collision and/or rapid deceleration of thevehicle 102. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2E, one or moreinflatable bladders 206 may be configured so that upon deployment theycan decrease a space 134 between seatback 124 and at least a portion ofback 126 of occupant 104. In examples, the deployment of one or moreinflatable bladders 206 to reduce a space 134 may occur if a space 134exceeds a threshold distance.

In examples, after the event or collision event, occupant protectionsystem 120 can detect and/or determine cessation of the signaltriggering the event or collision event. In accordance with detectingand/or determining cessation of the triggering signal, occupantprotection system 120 can allow or control the one or more inflatablebladders 206 of the expandable portion 226 of seat actuator 204 toreturn to their stowed state. In examples, the one or more inflatablebladders 206 are allowed to deflate. In examples, the one or moreinflatable bladders 206 may be actively deflated. In examples, activedeflation may be carried out by controlling one or more vents 210 tooutflow the fluid inside one or more inflatable bladders 206. Inexamples, a vacuum can be applied to exhaust the fluid inside one ormore inflatable bladders 206. For example, a vacuum may be appliedthrough one or more vents 210. In examples, the expansion device 208 maybe operated in reverse to extract fluid from inside one or moreinflatable bladders 206. In examples, active deflation of the one ormore inflatable bladders 206 may be managed and/or controlled by controlsystem 200 and/or actuator controller 202 via seat actuator 204.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of an example system 300 for implementingthe techniques described herein. In at least some examples, the system300 may include a vehicle 302, which may correspond to the examplevehicle 102 shown in FIG. 1 . The vehicle 302 may include a vehiclecomputing device 304, one or more sensor system(s) 306, one or moreemitters 308, one or more communication connections 310, at least onedirect connection 312, and one or more drive modules 314.

The vehicle computing device 304 may include one or more processors 316and memory 318 communicatively coupled with the one or more processors316. In the illustrated example, the vehicle 302 is an autonomousvehicle. However, the vehicle 302 may be any other type of vehicle. Inthe illustrated example, the memory 318 of the vehicle computing device304 stores a localization component 320, a perception component 322, aplanning component 324, a safety system 338, one or more systemcontrollers 326, one or more map(s) 328, and an example occupantprotection system 120. Though depicted in FIG. 3 as residing in memory318 for illustrative purposes, it is contemplated that the localizationcomponent 320, the perception component 322, the planning component 324,the safety system 338, the one or more system controllers 326, the oneor more maps 328, and/or the occupant protection system 120 mayadditionally, or alternatively, be accessible to the vehicle 302 (e.g.,stored on, or otherwise accessible by, memory remote from the vehicle302).

Regarding the example system 300 shown in FIG. 3 , in at least someexamples, the localization component 320 may be configured to receivedata from the sensor system(s) 306 to determine a position and/ororientation of the vehicle 302 (e.g., one or more of an x-, y-,z-position, roll, pitch, or yaw). For example, the localizationcomponent 320 may include and/or request/receive a map of an environmentand may continuously determine a location and/or orientation of theautonomous vehicle within the map. In some examples, the localizationcomponent 320 may utilize SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping),CLAMS (calibration, localization and mapping, simultaneously), relativeSLAM, bundle adjustment, non-linear least squares optimization, or thelike to receive image data, LIDAR sensor data, radar data, IMU data, GPSdata, wheel encoder data, and the like to accurately determine alocation of the autonomous vehicle. In some examples, the localizationcomponent 320 may provide data to various components of the vehicle 302to determine an initial position of an autonomous vehicle for generatinga candidate trajectory, as discussed herein.

In some examples, the perception component 322 may be configured toperform object detection, segmentation, and/or classification. In someexamples, the perception component 322 may provide processed sensor datathat indicates a presence of an entity that is proximate to the vehicle302 and/or a classification of the entity as an entity type (e.g., car,pedestrian, cyclist, animal, building, tree, road surface, curb,sidewalk, unknown, etc.). In additional and/or alternative examples, theperception component 322 may provide processed sensor data thatindicates one or more characteristics associated with a detected entityand/or the environment in which the entity is positioned. In someexamples, characteristics associated with an entity may include, but arenot limited to, an x-position (global position), a y-position (globalposition), a z-position (global position), an orientation (e.g., a roll,pitch, yaw), an entity type (e.g., a classification), a velocity of theentity, an acceleration of the entity, an extent of the entity (size),etc. Characteristics associated with the environment may include, butare not limited to, a presence of another entity in the environment, astate of another entity in the environment, a time of day, a day of aweek, a season, a weather condition, an indication of darkness/light,etc.

In general, the planning component 324 may determine a path for thevehicle 302 to follow to traverse through an environment. For example,the planning component 324 may determine various routes and trajectoriesand various levels of detail. For example, the planning component 324may determine a route to travel from a first location (e.g., a currentlocation) to a second location (e.g., a target location). For thepurpose of this discussion, a route may be a sequence of waypoints fortravelling between two locations. As non-limiting examples, waypointsinclude streets, intersections, global positioning system (GPS)coordinates, etc. Further, the planning component 324 may generate aninstruction for guiding the autonomous vehicle along at least a portionof the route from the first location to the second location. In at leastone example, the planning component 324 may determine how to guide theautonomous vehicle from a first waypoint in the sequence of waypoints toa second waypoint in the sequence of waypoints. In some examples, theinstruction may be a trajectory or a portion of a trajectory. In someexamples, multiple trajectories may be substantially simultaneouslygenerated (e.g., within technical tolerances) in accordance with areceding horizon technique, wherein one of the multiple trajectories isselected for the vehicle 302 to navigate.

In at least one example, the planning component 324 may determine alocation of a user based on image data of an environment received fromthe user using, for example, bags of binary words with image-basedfeatures, artificial neural network, and the like. Further, the planningcomponent 324 may determine a pickup location associated with alocation. A pickup location may be a specific location (e.g., a parkingspace, a loading zone, a portion of a ground surface, etc.) within athreshold distance of a location (e.g., an address or locationassociated with a dispatch request) where the vehicle 302 may stop topick up a passenger. In at least one example, the planning component 324may determine a pickup location based at least in part on determining auser identity (e.g., determined via image recognition or received as anindication from a user device, as discussed herein).

In other examples, the planning component 324 may alternatively, oradditionally, use data from the perception component 322 to determine apath for the vehicle 302 to follow to traverse through an environment.For example, the planning component 324 may receive data from theperception component 322 regarding objects associated with anenvironment. Using this data, the planning component 324 may determine aroute to travel from a first location (e.g., a current location) to asecond location (e.g., a target location) to avoid objects in anenvironment. In at least some examples, such a planning component 324may determine there is no such collision free path and, in turn, providea path which brings vehicle 302 to a safe stop avoiding all collisionsand/or otherwise mitigating damage. In examples, in conjunction withbringing vehicle 302 to a safe stop and/or mitigating damage in theevent of a collision or predicted collision, planning component 324 cangenerate a trigger signal for occupant protection system 120.

In examples, a safety system 338 may be used in addition to planningcomponent 324 as a redundant safety mechanism to provide a triggeringsignal to the occupant protection system 120. In examples, the safetysystem 338 may also generate and/or communicate occupant relatedinformation that can be used as a deployment parameter.

In examples, the safety system 338 in addition to or in place of theplanning component 324 may alternatively, or additionally, use data fromthe perception component 322, the one or more sensor system(s) 306,and/or the localization component 320, to determine whether a path forthe vehicle 302 through an environment will require a sudden change invelocity, a hard stop, or if a collision is unavoidable. For example,safety system 338 may receive data from the perception component 322,the one or more sensor system(s) 306, and/or the localization component320, regarding objects associated with an environment. Using this data,the safety system 338 may determine a required change in velocity of thevehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, ora predicted collision and, in turn, provide a triggering signal to theoccupant protection system 120.

In examples, planning component 324 and/or safety system 338 maydetermine an impact location between the vehicle 302 and the objectbased at least in part on trajectories of the vehicle 302 and/or theobject. For example, planning component 324 and/or safety system 338 maydetermine that the intersection between the vehicle 302 and the objectis on a side, front, rear, etc. of the vehicle 302. In some instances,planning component 324 and/or safety system 338 may determine whetherthe vehicle 302 includes rearward facing occupant(s) and/or forwardfacing occupant(s) within the vehicle 302, using the trajectory of thevehicle 302 and/or the sensor(s) 306 and/or 158.

In some instances, planning component 324 and/or safety system 338 maybe configured to determine a time associated with change in velocity ofthe vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision,or a predicted collision, or whether the change in velocity of thevehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, ora predicted collision is imminent. The time may be a particular time,such as, for example, 120 milliseconds after 3:05 pm, or it may be atime interval from a time in which change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision was determined. The time may be determined based on a measuredclosure rate of the object toward the vehicle 302, a velocity of thevehicle 302, an acceleration of the vehicle 302, a velocity of theobject, an acceleration of the object, road conditions, weatherconditions, and/or other factors that may affect a closure rate of theobject toward the vehicle 302, or vice versa. In such instances,planning component 324 and/or safety system 338 may transmit atriggering signal to the occupant protection system 120 in advance, andwith enough time, for deployment of the seat actuator 204 prior to thechange in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of thevehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision.

In at least one example, the vehicle computing device 304 may includeone or more system controllers 326, which may be configured to controlsteering, propulsion, braking, safety, emitters, communication, andother systems of the vehicle 302. These system controller(s) 326 maycommunicate with and/or control corresponding systems of the drivemodule(s) 314 and/or other components of the vehicle 302.

The memory 318 may further include one or more map(s) 328 that may beused by the vehicle 302 to navigate within the environment. For thepurpose of this application, a map may be any number of data structuresmodeled in two dimensions, three dimensions, or N dimensions that arecapable of providing information about an environment, such as, but notlimited to, topologies (such as intersections), streets, mountainranges, roads, terrain, and the environment in general. In someexamples, a map may include, but is not limited to: texture information(e.g., color information (e.g., RGB color information, Lab colorinformation, HSV/HSL color information), and the like), intensityinformation (e.g., LIDAR information, RADAR information, and the like);spatial information (e.g., image data projected onto a mesh, individual“surfels” (e.g., polygons associated with individual color and/orintensity)), reflectivity information (e.g., specularity information,retroreflectivity information, BRDF information, BSSRDF information, andthe like). In one example, a map may include a three-dimensional mesh ofthe environment. In some examples, the map may be stored in a tiledformat, such that individual tiles of the map represent a discreteportion of an environment and may be loaded into working memory asneeded. In at least one example, the one or more maps 328 may include atleast one map (e.g., images and/or a mesh). In some examples, thevehicle 302 may be controlled based at least in part on the maps 328.That is, the maps 328 may be used in connection with the localizationcomponent 320, the perception component 322, and/or the planningcomponent 324 to determine a location of the vehicle 302, identifyobjects in an environment, and/or generate routes and/or trajectories tonavigate within an environment.

In some examples, the one or more map(s) 328 may be stored on a remotecomputing device(s) (such as computing device(s) 330) accessible via oneor more network(s) 332. In some examples, multiple maps 328 may bestored based on, for example, a characteristic (e.g., type of entity,time of day, day of week, season of the year, etc.). Storing multiplemaps 328 may have similar memory requirements but increase the speed atwhich data in a map may be accessed.

As shown in FIG. 3 , in some examples, the logical or control portionsof occupant protection system 120, including instructions to controloperation of the seat actuator system 200 and actuator controller 204,may be stored in the memory 318 of the computing device 304 of thevehicle 302 or remote from the vehicle 302 in the memory 334 of thecomputing device(s) 330. In some examples, some portions of the occupantprotection system 120 may be stored in the memory 318 of the computingdevice 304 of the vehicle 302, and other portions of the occupantprotection system 120 may be stored remotely in the memory 334 of thecomputing device(s) 330, and the separately located portions of theoccupant protection system 120 may operate together in a coordinatedmanner.

In some examples, one or more triggering signals may be generated bycomponents other than or in addition to planning component 324 and/orsafety system 338. For example, the one or more of sensor system(s) 306,the localization component 320, or the perception component 322 can alsobe configured to generate a triggering signal for occupant protectionsystem 120. In examples, the one or more of sensor system(s) 306, thelocalization component 320, the perception component 322, the planningcomponent 324, and/or safety system 338 may generate one or moretriggering signals indicative of one or more of an actual change invelocity of the vehicle 302 or a predicted change in velocity of thevehicle 302, for example, due to a change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision involving the vehicle 302. Additionally, or alternatively, theoccupant protection system 120 itself may generate the triggeringsignal.

In examples, one or more of the sensor system(s) 306 may generate one ormore signals indicative of an object (e.g., another vehicle, a wall, aguardrail, a bridge support, a utility pole, and/or a pedestrian) andcommunicate the one or more signals to the perception component 322 theplanning component 324, and/or safety system 338, which may predict acollision with an object in the environment through which the vehicle302 is travelling and trigger a signal accordingly.

In examples, upon detection of a triggering signal from the one or moresensor system(s) 306, localization component 320, perception component322, planning component 324, and/or safety system 338, seat actuatorsystem 200 of the occupant protection system 120 may be configured toprovide one or more signals to the actuator controller 202, which mayactivate the seat actuator 204 and cause an increase in stiffness of atleast a portion of seatback 124. As described herein, in some examples,the seat actuator 204 may cause an increase in stiffness by increasingpressure in or inflating one or more inflatable bladders 206 located inseatback 124, thereby compressing at least a portion of a comfort foamor comfort material in seatback 124 and expedite application of aninitial reaction force F to which the occupant 104 is subject throughearlier engagement of the energy absorbing material in seatback 124.

In some examples, the seat actuator system 200 may be configured toreceive one or more occupant presence signals indicative of a presenceof an occupant 104 in a seat 106. In some such examples, the actuatorcontroller 202 may be configured to cause, based at least in part on theone or more occupant presence signals, the seat actuator 204 to increasea stiffness of at least a portion of the seatback 124 of the seat 106.In some examples, the seat actuator system 200 may be further configuredto either receive information or determine, based at least in part onthe occupant presence signal, that the occupant 104 is facing rearward(e.g., opposite relative to a direction of travel of the vehicle 302and/or in the event of a collision or predicted collision the directionopposite to the direction from which vehicle 302 collides or ispredicted to collide with an object), and cause, based at least in parton determining that the occupant 104 is facing rearward, the seatactuator 204 to increase pressure in the one or more inflatablebladders. In examples, the perception component 322 of the vehicle 302may include an object classification system configured to determineinformation related, for example, to whether an occupant 104 is presentin one or more of the respective seats 106 of the vehicle 302. Inexamples, the information may be provided by safety system 338. Inexamples, the above information may be received by one or more othervehicle system(s), such as one or more sensor system(s) 306,localization component 320, perception component 322, planning component324, and/or safety system 338, which may be configured to determine thedesired stiffness of at least a portion of seatback 124 and which may beconfigured to transmit the respective deployment control information toseat actuator system 200 of occupant protection system 120 along with oras part of a trigger signal.

In some examples, the object classification system may leverage one ormore of the sensor system(s) 306 of the vehicle 302 and determineinformation about the occupant 104, such as, for example, the sizeand/or weight of the occupant 104 (e.g., whether the occupant 104 is anadult, a child, or an infant). For example, image systems (e.g.,cameras) internal to the vehicle 302 may determine presence of anoccupant 104 in a seat 106. One or more sensors 158 as previouslydescribed may be used in conjunction with, in place of, and/or be partof perception component 322 or sensor system 306. The information aboutoccupant 104 can be transmitted directly to occupant protection system120 and/or can be transmitted to one or more vehicle system(s) such asthe planning system 324, and/or the safety system 338, which thengenerate a signal to send to occupant protection system 120.

If, for example, no occupant 104 is present in a seat 106, then it maybe determined not activate the seat actuator 204. This may preventunnecessary activation and prevent costs associated with servicingactivated parts of the occupant protection system 120. Alternatively, ifan occupant 104 is present in the seat 106, the actuator controller 202may cause activation of a seat actuator 204 associated with the positionof the occupant 104 to protect the occupant 104 during the collision. Inat least some examples, the type of occupant 104 detected may be used toinform other parameters of such a system (e.g., lower activation ratesor pressures for children or smaller occupants, etc.). In some examples,the seat actuator system 200 and/or other vehicle system(s) such as oneor more sensor system(s) 306, localization component 320, perceptioncomponent 322, planning component 324, and/or safety system 338, may befurther configured to determine, based at least in part on the occupantpresence signal, that the occupant 104 is facing rearward (e.g., facingthe opposite direction to a direction of travel of the vehicle 302and/or in the event of a collision or predicted collision the directionopposite to the direction from which vehicle 302 collides or ispredicted to collide with an object), and have seat actuator system 200cause, based at least in part on determining that the occupant 104 isfacing rearward, the seat actuator 204 to increase the stiffness of atleast a portion of the seatback 124 of the seat 106.

The seat actuator system 200, in some examples, may be configured toreceive one or more direction signals indicative of a direction oftravel of the vehicle 302, and cause, based at least in part on thedirection signal, the seat actuator 204 to increase the pressure in oneor more inflatable bladders 206. For example, the vehicle 302 may be abidirectional vehicle configured to travel between locations with eitherend of the vehicle 302 being the leading end, for example, as describedherein with respect to FIG. 1 . In such vehicles, a seat 106 may befacing the direction of travel when the vehicle 302 is traveling withone end of the vehicle 302 being the leading end, or may be facingrearward (opposite the direction of travel) when the other end of thevehicle 302 is the leading end. The vehicle 302 may include sensorsand/or a system configured to generate one or more signals indicative ofwhether the vehicle 302 is traveling in a direction such that the seat106 is facing forward (i.e., in the direction of travel) or the seat 106is facing rearward (i.e., opposite the direction of travel). The seatactuator system 200 may be configured to prevent activation of the seatactuator 204 associated with the seat 106, even when occupied, forexample, when the seat 106 is facing forward based at least in part onthe signals. This may prevent unnecessary activation and costsassociated with servicing activated parts of the occupant protectionsystem 120. Alternatively, if the seat 106 is facing rearward and anoccupant 104 is present in the seat 106, the actuator controller 202 mayactivate the seat actuator 204 associated with the position of the seat106 to protect the occupant 104 during the collision, for example, asdescribed herein.

In examples, the above direction information may be received by one ofthe other vehicle system(s), such as one or more sensor system(s) 306,localization component 320, perception component 322, planning component324, and/or safety system 338, which may then be configured to, based atleast in part on the direction signal, provide deployment instructionsto seat actuator system 200 to cause seat actuator 204 to increase thepressure in one or more inflatable bladders 206.

In some examples, aspects of some or all of the components discussedherein may include any models, algorithms, and/or machine learningalgorithms. For example, in some examples, the components in the memory318 and/or the memory 334 may be implemented as a neural network.

As described herein, an exemplary neural network is a biologicallyinspired algorithm which passes input data through a series of connectedlayers to produce an output. Each layer in a neural network may alsoinclude another neural network or may include any number of layers(whether convolutional or not). As may be understood in the context ofthis disclosure, a neural network may utilize machine learning, whichmay refer to a broad class of such algorithms in which an output isgenerated based on learned parameters.

Although discussed in the context of neural networks, any type ofmachine learning may be used consistent with this disclosure. Forexample, machine learning algorithms may include, but are not limitedto, regression algorithms (e.g., ordinary least squares regression(OLSR), linear regression, logistic regression, stepwise regression,multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), locally estimatedscatterplot smoothing (LOESS)), instance-based algorithms (e.g., ridgeregression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO),elastic net, least-angle regression (LARS)), decisions tree algorithms(e.g., classification and regression tree (CART), iterative dichotomiser3 (ID3), Chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID), decisionstump, conditional decision trees), Bayesian algorithms (e.g., naïveBayes, Gaussian naïve Bayes, multinomial naïve Bayes, averageone-dependence estimators (AODE), Bayesian belief network (BNN),Bayesian networks), clustering algorithms (e.g., k-means, k-medians,expectation maximization (EM), hierarchical clustering), associationrule learning algorithms (e.g., perceptron, back-propagation, hopfieldnetwork, Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN)), deep learning algorithms(e.g., Deep Boltzmann Machine (DBM), Deep Belief Networks (DBN),Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Stacked Auto-Encoders),Dimensionality Reduction Algorithms (e.g., Principal Component Analysis(PCA), Principal Component Regression (PCR), Partial Least SquaresRegression (PLSR), Sammon Mapping, Multidimensional Scaling (MDS),Projection Pursuit, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), MixtureDiscriminant Analysis (MDA), Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA),Flexible Discriminant Analysis (FDA)), Ensemble Algorithms (e.g.,Boosting, Bootstrapped Aggregation (Bagging), AdaBoost, StackedGeneralization (blending), Gradient Boosting Machines (GBM), GradientBoosted Regression Trees (GBRT), Random Forest), SVM (support vectormachine), supervised learning, unsupervised learning, semi-supervisedlearning, etc.

Additional examples of architectures include neural networks, such as,for example, ResNet70, ResNet101, VGG, DenseNet, PointNet, and the like.

In at least one example, the sensor system(s) 306 may include LIDARsensors, radar sensors, ultrasonic transducers, sonar sensors, locationsensors (e.g., GPS, compass, etc.), inertial sensors (e.g., inertialmeasurement units (IMUs), accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes,etc.), cameras (e.g., RGB, IR, intensity, depth, time-of-flight (TOF),etc.), microphones, wheel encoders, environment sensors (e.g.,temperature sensors, humidity sensors, light sensors, pressure sensors,etc.), etc. The sensor system(s) 306 may include multiple examples ofeach of these or other types of sensors. For example, the LIDAR sensorsmay include individual LIDAR sensors located at the corners, front,back, sides, and/or top of the vehicle 302. As another example, thecamera sensors may include multiple cameras disposed at variouslocations about the exterior and/or interior of the vehicle 302. Thesensor system(s) 306 may provide input to the vehicle computing device304. Additionally, or alternatively, the sensor system(s) 306 may sendsensor data, via the one or more networks 332, to the one or morecomputing device(s) 330 at a particular frequency, after a lapse of apredetermined period of time, in near real-time, etc.

The vehicle 302 may also include one or more emitters 308 for emittinglight and/or sound, as described above. The emitters 308 in this exampleinclude interior audio and visual emitters to communicate withpassengers of the vehicle 302. By way of example and not limitation,interior emitters may include speakers, lights, signs, display screens,touch screens, haptic emitters (e.g., vibration and/or force feedback),mechanical actuators (e.g., seatbelt tensioners, seat positioners,headrest positioners, etc.), and the like. The emitters 308 in thisexample also include exterior emitters. By way of example and notlimitation, the exterior emitters in this example include lights tosignal a direction of travel or other indicator of vehicle action (e.g.,indicator lights, signs, light arrays, etc.), and one or more audioemitters (e.g., speakers, speaker arrays, horns, etc.) to audiblycommunicate with pedestrians or other nearby vehicles, one or more ofwhich including acoustic beam steering technology.

The vehicle 302 may also include one or more communication connection(s)310 that enable communication between the vehicle 302 and one or moreother local or remote computing device(s). For example, thecommunication connection(s) 310 may facilitate communication with otherlocal computing device(s) on the vehicle 302 and/or the drive module(s)314. Also, the communication connection(s) 310 may allow the vehicle 302to communicate with other nearby computing device(s) (e.g., other nearbyvehicles, traffic signals, etc.). The communications connection(s) 310also enable the vehicle 302 to communicate with a remote teleoperationscomputing device or other remote services.

The communications connection(s) 310 may include physical and/or logicalinterfaces for connecting the vehicle computing device 304 to anothercomputing device or a network, such as network(s) 332. For example, thecommunications connection(s) 310 may enable Wi-Fi-based communication,such as via frequencies defined by the IEEE 802.11 standards, shortrange wireless frequencies such as Bluetooth®, cellular communication(e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, 5G, etc.) or any suitable wired or wirelesscommunications protocol that enables the respective computing device tointerface with the other computing device(s).

In at least one example, the vehicle 302 may include one or more drivemodules 314. In some examples, the vehicle 302 may have a single drivemodule 314. In at least one example, if the vehicle 302 has multipledrive modules 314, individual drive modules 314 may be positioned onopposite ends of the vehicle 302 (e.g., the leading end and the rear,etc.). In at least one example, the drive module(s) 314 may include oneor more sensor systems to detect conditions of the drive module(s) 314and/or the surroundings of the vehicle 302. By way of example and notlimitation, the sensor system(s) 306 may include one or more wheelencoders (e.g., rotary encoders) to sense rotation of the wheels (e.g.,wheels 110 in FIG. 1 ) of the drive modules, inertial sensors (e.g.,inertial measurement units, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers,etc.) to measure orientation and acceleration of the drive module,cameras or other image sensors, ultrasonic sensors to acousticallydetect objects in the surroundings of the drive module, LIDAR sensors,radar sensors, etc. Some sensors, such as the wheel encoders may beunique to the drive module(s) 314. In some cases, the sensor system(s)on the drive module(s) 314 may overlap or supplement correspondingsystems of the vehicle 302 (e.g., sensor system(s) 306).

The stopped here drive module(s) 314 may include many of the vehiclesystems, including a high voltage battery, a motor to propel thevehicle, an inverter to convert direct current from the battery intoalternating current for use by other vehicle systems, a steering systemincluding a steering motor and steering rack (which may be electric), abraking system including hydraulic or electric actuators, a suspensionsystem including hydraulic and/or pneumatic components, a stabilitycontrol system for distributing brake forces to mitigate loss oftraction and maintain control, an HVAC system, lighting (e.g., lightingsuch as head/tail lights to illuminate an exterior surrounding of thevehicle), and one or more other systems (e.g., cooling system, safetysystems, onboard charging system, other electrical components such as aDC/DC converter, a high voltage junction, a high voltage cable, chargingsystem, charge port, etc.). Additionally, the drive module(s) 314 mayinclude a drive module controller, which may receive and preprocess datafrom the sensor system(s) 306 and to control operation of the variousvehicle systems. In some examples, the drive module controller mayinclude one or more processors and memory communicatively coupled withthe one or more processors. The memory may store one or more modules toperform various functionalities of the drive module(s) 314. Furthermore,the drive module(s) 314 also include one or more communicationconnection(s) that enable communication by the respective drive modulewith one or more other local or remote computing device(s).

In at least one example, the direct connection 312 may provide aphysical interface to couple the one or more drive module(s) 314 withthe body of the vehicle 302. For example, the direct connection 312 mayallow the transfer of energy, fluids, air, data, etc. between the drivemodule(s) 314 and the vehicle 302. In some examples, the directconnection 312 may further releasably secure the drive module(s) 314 tothe body of the vehicle 302.

In at least one example, the localization component 320, perceptioncomponent 322, the planning component 324, and/or the occupantprotection system 120 may process sensor data, as described above, andmay send their respective outputs, over the one or more network(s) 332,to one or more computing device(s) 330. In at least one example, thelocalization component 320, the perception component 322, the planningcomponent 324, and/or the occupant protection system 120 may send theirrespective outputs to the one or more computing device(s) 330 at aparticular frequency, after a lapse of a predetermined period of time,in near real-time, etc.

The processor(s) 316 of the vehicle 302 and/or the processor(s) 336 ofthe computing device(s) 330 may include any suitable processor capableof executing instructions to process data and perform operations asdescribed herein. By way of example and not limitation, the processor(s)316 and 336 may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs),Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), or any other device or portion of adevice that processes electronic data to transform that electronic datainto other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/ormemory. In some examples, integrated circuits (e.g., ASICs, etc.), gatearrays (e.g., FPGAs, etc.), and other hardware devices may also beconsidered processors in so far as they are configured to implementencoded instructions.

Memory 318 and 334 are examples of non-transitory computer-readablemedia. The memory 318 and 334 may store an operating system and one ormore software applications, instructions, programs, and/or data toimplement the methods described herein and the functions attributed tothe various systems. In various implementations, the memory may beimplemented using any suitable memory technology, such as static randomaccess memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM),nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of memory capable ofstoring information. The architectures, systems, and individual elementsdescribed herein may include many other logical, programmatic, andphysical components, of which those shown in the accompanying figuresare merely examples that are related to the discussion herein.

In some examples, for example as shown in FIG. 3 , the occupantprotection system 120 may include the seat actuator system 200,including the actuator controller 202 configured to control the seatactuator 204, and/or a seatbelt system 140. In examples, occupantprotection system 120 and/or actuator system 200 may be configured tocarry out the operations described. As shown in FIG. 3 , the seatactuator system 200 and the seatbelt system 140 may be associated withone or more of the vehicle computing device 304 on board the vehicle 302or the remote computing device(s) 330.

It should be noted that while FIG. 3 is illustrated as a distributedsystem, in alternative examples, components of the vehicle 302 may beassociated with the computing device(s) 330, and/or components of thecomputing device(s) 330 may be associated with the vehicle 302. That is,the vehicle 302 may perform one or more of the functions associated withthe computing device(s) 330 and vice versa.

In various implementations, the parameter values and other dataillustrated herein may be included in one or more data stores and may becombined with other information not described or may be partitioneddifferently into more, fewer, or different data structures. In someimplementations, data stores may be physically located in one memory ormay be distributed among two or more memories.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the example architecture300 shown in FIG. 3 is merely illustrative and are not intended to limitthe scope of the present disclosure. In particular, the computing systemand devices may include any combination of hardware or software that canperform the indicated functions, including computers, network devices,internet appliances, tablet computers, PDAs, wireless phones, pagers,etc. The architecture 300 may also be connected to other devices thatare not illustrated, or instead may operate as a stand-alone system. Inaddition, the functionality provided by the illustrated components mayin some implementations be combined in fewer components or distributedin additional components. Similarly, in some implementations, thefunctionality of some of the illustrated components may not be providedand/or other additional functionality may be available.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various itemsare illustrated as being stored in memory or storage while being used,these items or portions of them may be transferred between memory andother storage devices for purposes of memory management and dataintegrity. Alternatively, in other implementations, some or all of thesoftware components may execute in memory on another device andcommunicate with the illustrated architecture 300. Some or all of thesystem components or data structures may also be stored (e.g., asinstructions or structured data) on a non-transitory,computer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by anappropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. Insome implementations, instructions stored on a computer-accessiblemedium separate from the architecture 300 may be transmitted to thearchitecture 300 via transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as a wireless link. Various implementations may further includereceiving, sending, or storing instructions and/or data implemented inaccordance with the foregoing description on a computer-accessiblemedium. Accordingly, the techniques described herein may be practicedwith other control system configurations. Additional information aboutthe operations of the modules of the vehicle 102 is discussed below.

FIG. 4 is a graphical representation of the magnitude of the forceimparted to the chest or torso of a crash test for an adult dummy duedeceleration during an event with and without implementation of anoccupant protection system 120 as described herein. This graph is onlyan example and used to illustrate the effects of the occupant protectionsystem 120 at least on the chest of an occupant. As stated throughoutthis disclosure, the system can relieve an occupant of reaction forcesoverall and thus can also decrease neck compression and/or other forcesthat could result in injury to an occupant. In the illustrated examples,the graph shows the deceleration profile of the chest or torso of anoccupant at the time of the event or collision event starting at time t0and proceeding through the event illustrating deceleration inflexionpoints at different times during the event. As illustrated, in examples,absent an occupant protection system 120 as described herein, at t0,i.e. at the very beginning of the event the occupant is moving with thevehicle and thus experiences little to no deceleration. As the eventoccurs, the occupant body will commence pressing against the first orfront surface 132 of seatback 124. As the comfort foam or comfortmaterial compresses the chest may commence to experience a reactionforce but only minimally thus, deceleration would also be minimal asindicated by broken line 416 at time t1 seconds. Once the comfort foamor comfort material is compressed, the energy absorbing material isengaged and at that point the graph illustrates a steep inflection pointas the reaction force to the chest suddenly increases and decelerationultimately peaks at time t2. In contrast, during the same test engagingoccupant protection system 120, where a single inflatable bladder 206,located at the thoracic region of seatback 124 between two layers ofcomfort foam material consecutively layered inside of first or frontsurface 132 of seatback 124, is deployed at the time of the event, i.e.at time t0, the reaction force to the chest indicated by solid line 418is engaged sooner and thus deceleration also beings earlier. Byabsorbing the energy earlier, the peak reaction force and thus peakdeceleration are lower. By deploying the inflatable bladder, the layersof comfort foam may be pre-compressed and thus the energy absorbingmaterial layers provided behind the comfort foam can be engaged sooner.As such, the chest deceleration commences earlier, at about t1. Also, aninflexion point of the deceleration, solid line 418, occurs sooner andwith a slope that is less steep. Because of the earlier engagement andthus earlier start in energy absorption, the peak of the reaction forceimparted to the chest and thus resulting deceleration at t2 is lowered.In examples, the peak magnitude of the force imparted to the chest canreduced by Δ of 10% to 30% using the occupant protection system.

This illustrates the safety benefits that may be derived from a seatbackoccupant protection system such as the occupant protection system 120 asdescribed herein.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example process illustrated as acollection of blocks in a logical flow graph, which represent a sequenceof operations that can be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. In the context of software, the blocks representcomputer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readablestorage media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform therecited operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions includeroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the likethat perform particular functions or implement particular abstract datatypes. The order in which the operations are described is not intendedto be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described blockscan be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement theprocesses.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example process 500 for protecting anoccupant of a vehicle. At 502, the example process 500 may includereceiving at 502 first sensor data from one or more sensors that may beused at 504 to determine eat least one of a change in velocity of avehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collisioninvolving the vehicle, or a predicted collision involving the vehicle. Atrigger signal to deploy seat actuator 204 may be set in conjunctionwith the determination of at least one of a change in velocity of avehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collisioninvolving the vehicle, or a predicted collision involving the vehicle.

Optionally, operations 506 to 514, additional data from one or moresensors can be received and analyzed to confirm deployment and/orcontrol deployment as discussed earlier. The information used duringthese operations may include occupant information, event information, orother data that can be used as deployment parameter. In examples wheredeployment occurs, the additional information may be used to determinedeployment control such as, for example, pressurization level of one ormore inflatable bladders 206, depressurization rate, selective and/ordelayed deployment of an inflatable bladder 206, or any other previouslydescribed control.

For example, the information from operation 506 may be used at operation508 to determine if a rearward facing occupant is present. As usedherein, a rearward facing occupant can be an occupant that is seatedfacing a direction opposite the direction of travel and/or in the eventof a collision or predicted collision, an occupant facing a directionopposite the direction in which the vehicle is colliding or predicted tocollide with an object. As described earlier, this may include, forexample, receiving an occupant presence signal indicative of a presenceof an occupant in a seat, and determining, based at least in part on theoccupant presence signal, whether an occupant is present in a seat. Forexample, an object classification system and/or other portions ofvehicle systems may generate signals indicative of whether an occupantis present in a seat of the vehicle, and in some examples, one or moresignals indicative of the seat in which the occupant is seated. Theprocess 500, in some examples, may include receiving a direction signalindicative of a direction of travel of the vehicle. Based at least inpart on one or more of the occupant presence signal or the directionsignal, the process may be configured to determine whether the occupantis facing rearward. If at 508 it is determined that a rearward facingoccupant is absent, the process may determine at 510 to not deploy theseat actuator 204. In examples, if at 508 it is determined that arearward facing occupant is present, the process may proceed to assessadditional information. For example, at operation 512, additionalinformation may be evaluated to determine the event type, i.e. avelocity change, a collision, a predicted velocity change, a predictedcollision, as well as additional information if available such as degreeof velocity change, level of collision impact, direction of impact andlike information. Final determination of deployment and/or deploymentcontrol can be based on the additional information at operation 514.

As discussed earlier, deployment determination and/or deployment controlcan be based on one or more parameters or thresholds reflecting one ormore of occupant presence, type of event reflecting the triggeringevent, occupant parameters such as size, position, weight, or anycombination thereof or with any of the previously mentioned parameters.For example, if at operation 514 it is determined that the event orcollision event is minor, and thus for example below a threshold valueas previously described, then deployment may not be necessary even if acollision event is occurring and the process moves to operation 510. Ifon the other hand, at operation 514 it is determined that the event orcollision event is above a threshold, then seat actuator 204 may bedeployed.

If it is determined that deployment is necessary, then at operation 516actuator controller 202 causes seat actuator 204 to deploy by engagingone or more expansion devices 208 to pressurize or inflate one or moreinflatable bladders 206 in seatback 124. In so doing, the deployedinflatable bladders 206 compress at least in part one or more layers orsections of comfort foam or comfort material and increase the stiffnessof at least a portion of a seatback during a collision event.

In some examples, at 516, the example process 500 may cause a reactionforce from the seatback against at least a portion of the back of theoccupant to increase from a minimal reaction force to a first reactionforce more quickly. For example, the seatback may exhibit a reactionforce F against the at least a portion of the back of the occupant thatincreases from a minimal reaction force (e.g., a zero reaction force F)to a first reaction force without a delay that could otherwise be causedwhile the comfort foam or comfort material compresses.

In some examples, the one or more inflatable bladders 206 are allowed toreturn to a stowed state or may be actively deflated to return to astowed state at 510 after deployment, and/or after cessation of thetriggering signal is detected or determined.

It should be appreciated that the subject matter presented herein may beimplemented as a computer process, a computer-controlled apparatus, acomputing system, or an article of manufacture, such as acomputer-readable storage medium. While the subject matter describedherein is presented in the general context of program modules thatexecute on one or more computing devices, those skilled in the art willrecognize that other implementations may be performed in combinationwith other types of program modules. Generally, program modules includeroutines, programs, components, data structures, and other types ofstructures that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that aspects of thesubject matter described herein may be practiced on or in conjunctionwith other computer system configurations beyond those described herein,including multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, handheldcomputers, mobile telephone devices, tablet computing devices,special-purposed hardware devices, network appliances, and the like.

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that technologies fordeploying an occupant protection system have been presented herein.Moreover, although the subject matter presented herein has beendescribed in language specific to computer structural features,methodological acts, and computer readable media, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features, acts, or media describedherein. Rather, the specific features, acts, and media are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the subject matter recited in the claims.

The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustrationonly and should not be construed as limiting. Furthermore, the claimedsubject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or alldisadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure. Variousmodifications and changes may be made to the subject matter describedherein without following the examples and applications illustrated anddescribed, and without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure, which is set forth in the following claims.

Example Clauses

A. A seat configured to be coupled to a vehicle, comprising: a seat baseconfigured to support at least a portion of weight of an occupant of theseat; a seatback associated with the seat base and configured to providesupport to a back of the occupant; a seat actuator configured to modifya stiffness of a portion of the seatback; and an actuator controller incommunication with the seat actuator and configured to: receive atriggering signal indicative of one or more of a change in velocity ofthe vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision,or a predicted collision; and cause, based at least in part on thetriggering signal, the seat actuator to modify the stiffness of theportion of the seatback.

B. The seat as recited in paragraph A, wherein the triggering signal isresponsive to a collision or a predicted collision with an objectlocated behind the seatback.

C. The seat as recited in paragraph A or B, wherein to modify thestiffness of the portion of the seatback, the seat actuator isconfigured to expand an expandable portion located in the seatback.

D. The seat as recited in paragraph C, wherein the actuator is furtherconfigured to: receive a seating position of an occupant; and receive adirection of travel of the vehicle, and wherein causing the seatactuator to expand the expandable portion of the seatback is furtherbased at least in part on one or more of the seating position or thedirection of travel.

E. The seat as recited in any one of paragraphs A to D, wherein theportion of the seatback comprises a first portion facing the back of theoccupant, the first portion comprising a first material, and wherein theseatback further comprises: a second portion, opposite the firstportion, the second portion comprising a second material, wherein theseat actuator comprises an expandable portion located between the firstportion and the second portion.

F. The seat as recited in paragraph E, wherein the first materialcomprises an elastomeric foam and the second material is configured tocrush in plastic deformation under a threshold load.

G. The seat as recited in any one of paragraphs A to F, wherein the seatactuator comprises: an expandable portion comprising an inflatablebladder; and an expansion device in flow communication with theinflatable bladder and configured to cause the inflatable bladder toexpand from a stowed state to a deployed state.

H. The seat as recited in paragraph G, wherein: the portion of theseatback comprises a first portion facing the back of the occupant; andthe expandable portion of the seat actuator comprises two or moreinflatable bladders configured to expand between the first portion and asecond portion of the seatback opposite the first portion.

I. The seat as recited in paragraph H, wherein the two or moreinflatable bladders are independently operated, and wherein a first oneof the two or more inflatable bladders is at a first location of theseatback and a second one of the two or more inflatable bladders is at asecond location, different from the first location, of the seatback.

J. The seat as recited in any one of paragraphs G to I, wherein theinflatable bladder comprises two or more chambers.

K. An occupant protection system for a vehicle, the occupant protectionsystem comprising: a seat configured to be coupled to a vehicle, theseat comprising: a seat base configured to support at least a portion ofweight of an occupant of the seat; a seatback associated with the seatbase and configured to provide support to a back of the occupant; a seatactuator configured to modify a stiffness of a portion of the seatback;and an actuator controller in communication with the seat actuator andconfigured to: receive a triggering signal indicative of one or more ofa change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity ofthe vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision; and cause, based atleast in part on the triggering signal, the seat actuator to modify thestiffness of the portion of the seatback.

L. The occupant protection system as recited in paragraph K, wherein tomodify the stiffness of the portion of the seatback, the seat actuatoris configured to expand at least an expandable portion located in theseatback.

M. The occupant protection system as recited in paragraph K or L,wherein the seat actuator comprises: an expandable portion comprising aninflatable bladder; and an expansion device in flow communication withthe inflatable bladder and configured to cause to the inflatable bladderto expand from a stowed state to a deployed state.

N. An occupant protection system as recited in any one of paragraphs Kto M, wherein the portion of the seatback comprises a first portionfacing the back of the occupant, the first portion comprising anelastomeric material, and wherein the seatback further comprises: asecond portion, opposite the first portion, configured to crush inplastic deformation under a threshold load, wherein the seat actuatorcomprises an expandable portion located between the first portion andthe second portion configured to compress the elastomeric material uponexpanding.

O. A method for protecting an occupant of a vehicle, the methodcomprising: receiving a triggering signal indicative of at least one ofa change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity ofthe vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision; and causing, basedat least in part on the triggering signal, a seat actuator to change astiffness a portion of a seatback that faces at least a portion of aback of an occupant from a first stiffness to a second stiffness greaterthan the first stiffness.

P. The method as recited in paragraph O, wherein causing the seatactuator to change the stiffness of the portion of the seatbackcomprises increasing a pressure in a portion of the seat actuator thatcomprises an inflatable bladder, wherein the inflatable bladder islocated in an internal portion of the seatback.

Q. The method as recited in paragraph P, wherein increasing the pressurein the portion of the seat actuator that comprises the inflatablebladder comprises activating an expansion device operably connected tothe inflatable bladder to deploy the inflatable bladder.

R. The method as recited in paragraph Q, wherein increasing the pressurein the portion of the seat actuator that comprises the inflatablebladder comprises injecting into the inflatable bladder a fluidcomprising a liquid, a gas, or a combination thereof.

S. The method as recited in paragraph Q or R, wherein causing the seatactuator to change the stiffness of the portion of the seatbackcomprises: pressurizing a portion of the seat actuator that comprises afirst inflatable bladder located at a first location inside theseatback; pressurizing a portion of the seat actuator that comprises asecond inflatable bladder located at a second location, different fromthe first location, inside the seatback; or pressurizing the firstinflatable bladder and the second inflatable bladder.

T. The method as recited in any one of paragraphs O to S, furthercomprising: determining cessation of the triggering signal; and causingthe portion of the seat actuator to return the portion of the seatbackto the first stiffness.

While the example clauses described above are described with respect toparticular implementations, it should be understood that, in the contextof this document, the content of the example clauses can be implementedvia a method, device, system, a computer-readable medium, and/or anotherimplementation. Additionally, any of examples A-T may be implementedalone or in combination with any other one or more of the examples A-T.

What is claimed is:
 1. A seat configured to be coupled to a vehicle,comprising: a seat base configured to support at least a portion ofweight of an occupant of the seat; a seatback associated with the seatbase and configured to provide support to a back of the occupant, theseatback comprising: a first portion facing the back of the occupant,the first portion comprising a compressible material; a second portionopposite the first portion, the second portion comprising a first energyabsorbing material configured to crush in plastic deformation under athreshold load; an expandable portion comprising an inflatable bladderpositioned between the first portion and the second portion; and anenclosure configured to constrain the first portion; a seat actuatorconfigured to compress the first portion within the enclosure of theseatback; and an actuator controller in communication with the seatactuator and configured to: receive a triggering signal indicative of achange in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change in velocity of thevehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision; and cause, based on thetriggering signal, the seat actuator to compress the first portionwithin the enclosure of the seatback, wherein compressing the firstportion within the enclosure causes the first portion to be a secondenergy absorbing material.
 2. The seat of claim 1, wherein thetriggering signal is responsive to a collision or a predicted collisionwith an object located behind the seatback.
 3. The seat of claim 1,wherein the seat actuator is further configured to: receive a seatingposition of the occupant; and receive a direction of travel of thevehicle, and wherein causing the seat actuator to expand the expandableportion of the seatback is further based on one or more of the seatingposition or the direction of travel.
 4. The seat of claim 1, wherein thefirst portion comprises an elastomeric foam.
 5. The seat of claim 1,wherein the seat actuator comprises: an expansion device in flowcommunication with the inflatable bladder and configured to cause theinflatable bladder to expand from a stowed state to a deployed state. 6.The seat of claim 5, wherein: the expandable portion of the seatactuator comprises two or more inflatable bladders configured to expandbetween the first portion and the second portion of the seatbackopposite the first portion.
 7. The seat of claim 6, wherein the two ormore inflatable bladders are independently operated, and wherein a firstone of the two or more inflatable bladders is at a first location of theseatback and a second one of the two or more inflatable bladders is at asecond location, different from the first location, of the seatback. 8.The seat of claim 5, wherein the inflatable bladder comprises two ormore chambers.
 9. An occupant protection system for a vehicle, theoccupant protection system comprising: a seat configured to be coupledto a vehicle, the seat comprising: a seat base configured to support atleast a portion of weight of an occupant of the seat; a seatbackassociated with the seat base and configured to provide support to aback of the occupant, the seatback comprising: a first portion facingthe back of the occupant, the first portion comprising a compressiblematerial; a second portion opposite the first portion, the secondportion comprising a first energy absorbing material configured to crushin plastic deformation under a threshold load; an expandable portioncomprising an inflatable bladder positioned between the first portionand the second portion; and an enclosure configured to constrain thefirst portion; a seat actuator configured to compress the first portionwithin the enclosure of the seatback; and an actuator controller incommunication with the seat actuator and configured to: receive atriggering signal indicative of a change in velocity of the vehicle, apredicted change in velocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predictedcollision; and cause, based on the triggering signal, the seat actuatorto compress the first portion within the enclosure of the seatback,wherein compressing the first portion within the enclosure causes thefirst portion to be a second energy absorbing material.
 10. The occupantprotection system of claim 9, wherein to compress the first portionwithin the enclosure of the seatback, the seat actuator is configured toexpand at least an expandable portion located in the seatback.
 11. Theoccupant protection system of claim 9, wherein the seat actuatorcomprises: an expansion device in flow communication with the inflatablebladder and configured to cause to the inflatable bladder to expand froma stowed state to a deployed state.
 12. A method for protecting anoccupant of a vehicle, the method comprising: causing the vehicle totraverse an environment, the vehicle comprising: a seat coupled to thevehicle, the seat including a seat base configured to support at least aportion of weight of the occupant of the seat; a seatback associatedwith the seat base and configured to provide support to a back of theoccupant; and a seat actuator configured to receive a triggering signalindicative of a change in velocity of the vehicle, a predicted change invelocity of the vehicle, a collision, or a predicted collision;receiving the triggering signal; and causing, based on the triggeringsignal, the seat actuator to compress a first portion of compressiblematerial within an enclosure of the seatback, the first portionoverlaying a second portion comprising a first energy absorbing materialconfigured to crush in plastic deformation under a threshold load,wherein compressing the first portion within the enclosure causes thefirst portion to be a second energy absorbing material.
 13. The methodof claim 12, wherein causing the seat actuator to compress the firstportion of the seatback comprises increasing a pressure in an expandableportion of the seat actuator that comprises an inflatable bladder,wherein the inflatable bladder is located in an internal portion of theseatback.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein increasing the pressure inthe expandable portion of the seat actuator that comprises theinflatable bladder comprises activating an expansion device operablyconnected to the inflatable bladder to deploy the inflatable bladder.15. The method of claim 14, wherein causing the seat actuator tocompress the first portion of the seatback comprises: pressurizing afirst expandable portion of the seat actuator that comprises a firstinflatable bladder located at a first location inside the seatback;pressurizing a second expandable portion of the seat actuator thatcomprises a second inflatable bladder located at a second location,different from the first location, inside the seatback; or pressurizingthe first inflatable bladder and the second inflatable bladder.
 16. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: determining cessation of thetriggering signal; and causing an expandable portion of the seatactuator to return the expandable portion of the seatback to a state theexpandable portion of the seatback was in prior to receiving thetriggering signal.
 17. The seat of claim 1, wherein the seat actuatorcomprises: a restraint structure disposed within the inflatable bladderto maintain a shape or size of the inflatable bladder within theenclosure during inflation.
 18. The seat of claim 1, wherein the seatactuator is further configured to: detect a gap between at least aportion of the seatback and the back of the occupant; and whereincausing the seat actuator to expand the expandable portion of theseatback is further based at least in part on determining the gap isbeyond a present threshold.
 19. The seat of claim 1, wherein the seatactuator includes a vent configured to release pressure from inside theexpandable portion after compression of the seatback.
 20. The seat ofclaim 1, wherein the enclosure is permeable and includes a mechanism toenable air to leave the enclosure.